MrNirom

The LDS church did start out using wine in the Sacrament. But the Lord warned Joseph concerning the use of wine as his enemies could poison it if he was not careful. Therefore.. the use of water was acceptable. It would cost much money now a days to serve wine to so many people world wide every week. I suppose if it was served.. there would probably be more people that would attend each week. Christ was a teacher that used the world as his chalk board. At the last supper.. he used what he had as a teaching tool. If you look at the entire last supper as the lesson.. you can see how much of what happened there has been transfered to current Church meetings. The one part we leave out is the actual eating together to be filled.. and then once filled.. partake of the bread and wine in remembrance of him. The being filled was literal then.. but is no longer. It now represents being filled with things of God. The word, the Spirit, the friendship, the love. After then being "filled".. we are to then eat and drink in similitude of what he did in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the Cross at Calvary. For without that sacrifice he made.. this life we live would be meaningless. Everything the Lord taught was in similitude of something else. Parables were another way of looking at teachings. I do not think that the Lord really even cares what is used in this day and age. As long as one does it with the correct spirit and intention. So taking a shot of tequila as a representation of his blood.. doesn't fit the bill if you know what I mean.

I guess my use of the word filled was used in the way one would "fill" up a gas tank. As you use it.. it must be "filled" again. But only if you intend on using it. If you don't use it.. then there is no need to "fill" it again. I feel that the General Authorities speak to the General Membership. And what the General Membership is ready to hear is not always the same as what some individuals are ready to hear. They are human too and can fall into the same traps as the rest of us. It only takes one beaver to make a dam and stop the flow of the water. Not as quick if more were helping out.

I agree.. and a more pressing question is.. Why now? What is the cause of our focus to be shifted? Tell me if I am wrong... but it does seem to be much more on an individual basis.. rather than everyone in the collective... coming from the top and being filtered downward. Those who thirst and hunger for new knowledge.. seem to get filled. NO?

If God has said that there must be opposition in all things.. how could that be without someone like Satan? He must have some kind of a plan for him that maybe we don't fully understand?

I love the way Jesus used the earth as his chalkboard. Example: The Garden of Gethsemane.. in Hebrew means "oil press". This is were the only writer of the New Testaments, Luke, who is a physician.. describes the anguish of the Christ in Gethsemane was so deep that "his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground." If anyone has even seen the color of olive oil as it is pressed from the olive.. you will notice that it is red... like blood. And here in the Garden.. where Christ took upon him the the weight of the sins of the world.. it literally pressed the blood from his pores. Or how the place of Christ's baptism happens to be below sea level. So when Christ was baptized.. he actually buried underground. Plus it is the same spot where the the Israelites crossed the Jordan River to start their new life in the promised land. Just some interesting facts.. and there are many more!

And who is to say this is not true? Has anyone heard of the Hollow Earth Theory? Many prominent scientist of our day and age are trying to prove this now. Who says that the same is not possible on the Moon or Sun... or any other planet? There are many things that when we look at it.. are invisible to us. God is. Is it not possible that that we just are not given the means by which to see? Why I was watching TV last night and found out that people had been reporting seeing flying objects in the sky before airplanes were even invented. Who knows? Can one say for sure it is not true?

Has it not been said by LDS: Salvation without exaltation is damnation. According to Christians.. to be saved.. is to not be in Hell.. since they believe you either go to Hell or Heaven. So it is true that by the Grace of God.. ye are saved... because we are not going to hell. Now.. of course you can still screw that up if you rebel. Which is a negative works.. and therefore the reason that God says men will be judged by their works. Because the goal here is exaltation.. which is progression.. and anything less than progression.. or moving to wards our goal... is damnation.. or Hell. Now Damnation means to stop the flow.... just like a dam stops the flow of water. To be damned is to stop the flow of one's eternal progression. And our eternal progression is "to become what we wish to become".... which for most LDS is to be like our Heavenly Father. To become what we wish to become is what takes works and is not given to us by grace. However it is by the Grace of God that we even try. And his Grace is his love for us. But we do have a very active part in all of this... to think otherwise... is our own Damnation.

It makes me realize that because I left the Church for 20 years.. I am 20 years behind in this school of knowledge of God and scriptures. Thank goodness I don't have to spend the next 20 years reading and understanding the Old Testament to figure out what God wants me to know.. Joseph Smith brought us somewhat up to date. There are still some things that we don't fully understand that Joseph, Brigham, John Taylor and others spoke about but did not expound on... took with them to their graves that were not "passed" on. Many will bring up the JOD and some of the teachings there that we do not understand and because we don't.. we have "dismissed" the teachings due to lack of understanding on our part... not on theirs. Joseph once said that there were things that if he taught them... people would say they were blasphemy and heresy! That lets me know that some truths died with the Prophet. To know that we have the opportunity to become like our Heavenly Father.. is an awesome lesson to be taught. Why do people shrink from the thought that God can love us that much?

I made the change. Hope it is better now.

So is BIGAMY - Criminal offense of having two or more wives or husbands at the same time. The willful contracting of a second marriage. Most of the time if a man had two wives.. he would be called a Bigamist.. if more than two.. a polygamist. However Polygamy can be defined as any "form of marriage in which a person [has] more than one spouse. polygyny (one man having more than one wife), polyandry (one woman having more than one husband).

Because everyone has given you the standard answer.. which is right.. I will take a deeper approach.. one you might not see. When it comes to the temple and garments (This is after we have been through the temple the first time. That depends on when we decide we want to go or when we are authorized to go. There are some people who are members of the church who have never been to the Temple. This is their choice and it is dependent on a check list of requirements that determines ones desire to go. We all know what the requirements are.. we just need to adhere to those requirements.) So if someone goes thru the temple for the first time at age 40.. they would then wear them from that time forward.. Ok? Now to answer your questions with a little flair. 1. The times we don't wear them: Swimming, hot tubbing, water skiing, shower or bath, and during sex. Also when playing professional sports, IE basketball, tennis etc. I am sure there are other times but when not doing these other activities.. we are instructed to wear them as often as we can. Yes.. we do have more than one set. 2. Some do.. others don't. Bottom line is that it is not on the list of no no's. This is a personal preference. I think the commandment was given to protect us and if we use it as a guideline.. we should be able to discern whether or not something is good for us or not. The more rules you put on people.. the more they want to rebel. There will always be those that push the envelope. I think common sense dictates. 3. Does not work well on children.. as it was stated.. they don't wear them.. but it does work great for adults. It also helps with adultery and other forms of sexual sins. One of the main reasons is.. you have to take them off. They are like the last line of defense. When one decides to cross that line.. there is something mental about it that you have to take off your garments. And when you are able to that.. then you have truly decided to commit a big big error. Because they are special.. they also help with modesty... as we do not let the garments be seen. Our clothes are to cover them from sight. 4. The garments are worn closest to the body. Where other religions wear their garments on the outside of their clothes.. We wear them underneath. We do not broadcast to everyone else that we are "holy" or "special" people.. hey.. look at our garments.. we quietly cover them because they are scared to us. We do believe that if worn properly.. they have protected many from injury and death. 5. Alcohol is great for the body. It is what is used for the washing and cleansing. Just look at the way Dr's use it. Some research says.. hey.. a little is good for you. We feel that a little.. can become a lot. We are human.. and the flesh is weak. Look at the problems out there that surround alcohol abuse. Some people just can't help it. So it is better to avoid the appearance of evil.. than to flirt with it. 6. I think it is important to note that being married (civil union) and Temple marriage or sealing (eternal union) are different. Every man and woman who gets married (civil union) is given an automatic divorce decree.. "until death do you part". In the Mormon church.. if a man and woman is married in the temple.. they are "sealed" to each other for all time and eternity. Now.. bigamy is being married to more than one person... man or woman.. and polygamy.. is a man being married (civil union) to more than one living wife at a time. In the Church today.. no person can be married to another if they are already married and alive. However.. it should be noted that if a man marries a woman.. and he is sealed to her in the temple.. and she dies.. the man can marry again and be sealed to another woman. Therefore in the eyes of God.. he is married to both women in the next life for all eternity. That does suppose that all the individuals are righteous and have made it to Heaven. 7. I think people believe this because we have the Book of Mormon which we believe to be the word of god.. and therefore assume we don't use the Bible. The Bible is also the word of God. The men who wrote it were inspired and directed from God to write the things they did. However... we believe that because the Bible was copied and copied and copied and copied again and translated and copied again by men.. and sometimes wicked men.. that some things have been either left out.. or changed... and therefore the original message that the writer intended.. was lost. It became even more apparent to us after Joseph Smith.. through the power of God and by direct inspiration and revelation.. made many corrections to those lines and verses that had been changed or removed or copied or translated incorrectly. We use the same Bible that most people use.. the King James Version. However.. we have foot notes at the bottom of our Bible that indicates if there was a change in the original text.. and we can then view the change if we so desire. And most of the time.. we do.. because it adds much clarity to the meaning when you see how the original writer had intended it to read. 8. Joseph Smith is a Prophet. Just like Moses was to the Israelites. Or any of the other prophets. Because he was also an Apostle.. he is just as important as Peter, James, John or Paul are. They testify to the divinity of Jesus being the Christ.. and the son of God. People when turning to the Bible.. read and quote the words written by not Jesus himself... but those who were called to serve and write the words of Jesus. So it is with Joseph. He has written the words spoken by Jesus. He also translated words that were written by other prophets who live on the American Continent and published those translated words into what is called the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon prophets who wrote their words lived during the time 600 BC to about 400 AD. Joseph is the first prophet of this last dispensation... which is the dispensation before the 2nd coming of Christ. So he restored many truths.. and introduced many new ones that had not been known before. It is all in preparation for the return of the Lord before the millennium. So we honor him and his calling.. we do not worship him. God is who we worship. 9. I think any time that someone does not talk about something.. people automatically think there is something wrong. We don't speak of what happens in the Temple because we know how people are. Just look at how people treated the sacred burial sites of the Indians. They disrespected them! See how people who hated any group would attack anything that meant or had any value to them. Mormons learned way back in the 1800's that they had to keep secret when they were doing baptisms in the River. Why? Because there would always be someone who would try to damn it up or ruin it so it could not be done. People can be just plain mean. So if you feel that very special things are being done in the Temple.. the mean people would just find a way to destroy what we think is beautiful and make it ugly. So it was decided long ago.. not to spill the beans. It was sacred.. so we do not speak of it. There are many Ex Mormons who have left the Church. And they are the ones who now just mock and make fun all the time... Why? Because they know it is special to us.. and they can then ridicule that which they don't believe in anymore. I hope this is what you were looking for.

So the Catholic's believe that there is no Judgment Day? It is an ongoing process that as soon as you die you are judged and you go to heaven or you go to hell?

The teachings of the Gospel are true and truth comes from many sources. We are told to search out all sources of truth. They all will not be the teachings of the Church because there are many things that have been revealed.. yet not understood.. and therefore dismissed. I remember a quote that Joseph Smith made concerning looking into heaven. He said.. if you could gaze into heaven for 5 minutes.. you would know more about it than all that has been written about it. The vision of the Kingdoms of Heaven were over an hour long. There were many truths that Joseph knew about that he did not share because they would scream Heresy! I mean how many of you knew that there was a time that men were sealed to men? (See Journal of discourses Vol. 9 page 269. Also Manuscript History of Brigham Young Jan. 16, 1847) This practice of sealing men to men and even groups was discontinued evidently through lack of understanding. There are truths that can be given to an individual that has not been given to the rest of the church by the prophets. So it is fair to say that those who have those truths.. can still have them.. and.. still have the truths that the Church teaches. Sometimes the truths that have been shared with individuals is an expansion on truth that we do have. If you search for truth.. you will find it. The teachings of the Church for the General membership is just that.. for the General membership. If the Lord determines that the General Membership is not ready for new truths.. he will not reveal it that way. But that does not keep him from revealing other truths to those that are ready.. who hunger and thirst for it. Just remember.. you are not given the Authority to TEACH IT TO THE MEMBERSHIP. That is the Prophet's duty. You can have your understanding.. you can make you comments and understanding known.. but to use your position in the Church to teach what you have learned.. is not appropriate. In these forums.. it is alway implicated as what? It is your humble opinion. And so I can say all of this... IMHO. It doesn't mean that it isn't true.

DuaneSCrowther.com Customer Reviews: Prophecy Key to the Future Here are two web sites for you to look at. Personally.. I have no knowledge about him or his writings.

Personally.. to put so much faith in the "arm of flesh" is dangerous. Brigham Young clearly stated that those who make it to the celestial kingdom must not "pin their faith on another's sleeve." He said that we must go forward with the independence of heaven and do what is right even though the whole world take an opposite course. Joseph Smith once complained that the members minds were "darkened" because they relied on him for all their inspiration. I believe that as one prays and studies the scriptures.. the Lord will give us the revelations we need to guide ourselves as long as we ask him for it. What have the General Authorities and Prophets for the past 100 years said to us? Repent.. Repent.. Repent. Get your lives in order. Be prepared.. for no one knows the day or hour of the coming of Christ. They repeat the same message. The sad part is that they have to repeat it at all. But we must be reminded. We had to be reminded that making homosexual marriages legal is wrong. Why do we have to be reminded of that? Why do you think that the 1st Presidency would have to say anything at all about it? It is obvious. There are many Saints who have been swayed to believe in the ways and doctrines of men... and have forgot the ways of God. I will follow any Prophet or General Authority as long as the Holy Ghost testifies to me that the man speaking and what he is speaking.. comes from God. Man is fallible. General Authorities are fallible. The Prophet is fallible. They are human. Yes.. they are called by God to do his work but we also have been called to our responsibility as well. D&C 9: 8-9 8 But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study• it out in your mind•; then you must ask• me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom• shall burn• within you; therefore, you shall feel• that it is right. 9 But if it be not right you shall have no such feelings, but you shall have a stupor• of thought that shall cause you to forget the thing which is wrong; therefore, you cannot write that which is sacred• save it be given you from me. Be prayerful. Joseph Smith said that God's way would be that every man is a Prophet. That they would know they could receive the same revelation, vision, or message from God and not need him to do it. Just a word to the wise: Rely more on the relationship you have with the Lord.. than on the relationship of others and their relationship with God.

Here is a concept of what others think that happend. This is just FYI.

No fence sitting. But I have my own ideas as to the situations we are born into. Depending on what we desired to learn.. we would and could choose linage. There are many races.. many linages.. each having different challenges and ways of life to experience. The same goes for time periods. "The Plan" was very well thought out and we had our free agency in that plan.

In searching.. I found this explanation:

Just some food for thought.

Don't forget.. Brigham Young also said: "Some may say, Brethren, you who lead the church, we have all confidence in you, we are not in the least afraid but what everything will go right under your superintendence; all the business matters will be transacted right; and if Brother Brigham is satisfied with it, I am. I do not wish any Latter-Day Saint in this world, nor in heaven, to be satisfied with anything I do, unless the spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ, the spirit of revelation, makes them satisfied. I wish them to know for themselves and understand for themselves, for this would strengthen the faith that is in them. Suppose that the people were heedless, that they manifested no concern with regard to the things of the kingdom of God, but threw the whole burden upon the leaders of the people, saying, 'If the brethren who take charge of matters are satisfied we are,' this is not pleasing in the sight of the Lord." (J. D. 3:44- 45)

We really need a new Govt! I came across 19 videos that play one after the other automatically that will open eyes to OUR Govt. Don't make any decision until you have veiwed all 19. Keep an open mind.. look at what you see.. and then decide. Maybe you could even apply Moroni's challange here. 4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask• God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true•; and if ye shall ask with a sincere• heart, with real• intent, having faith• in Christ, he will manifest• the truth• of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. 5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know• the truth• of all things. Not all things spiritual.. but.. ALL Things! ************************************** YouTube - 9/11 Coincidences (Part One)*******************

Yes.. far north and deep inside from what I hear.

People can focus their attention on whatever they want to. God gave us the ability to discern and prioritize. There is only so much plowing one can do and there is a certain amount of time in which to do it before it becomes too late. If you have the time... then by all means.. proceed.

Unfortunately.. It will be far too late for that. The wheels of everything in this world has seem to slow down. As we approach the time of the 2nd coming.. the warnings go out.. and people will unite. Those that survive will be the ones called to continue do his work. It will be future generations that do the rebuilding.

Personally.. I trust in the Lord to give me the wisdom to make trivial decisions without bothering him with little details. Trust is an attitude like prayer. The scriptures says to 'pray always' but no one literally does this. One can, however, always have a prayerful, as well as trusting, attitude.