Faded

Isn't that always the case: It's hard to do what is right when you will look like a bad person for doing the right thing, right? My advice would be to pray for the courage to do the right thing anyways. Does it matter that you've had more self restraint than your sister? Of course it matters! Does it matter enough to make you worthy to go to the temple anyways? No, it does not. The fact that you have not had sex MIGHT mean that it's not a full 1 year wait though. It's possibly a shorter wait. Also, you don't need to run off to Las Vegas and elope. You are not your sister and you can choose your own path. You get to write your own story. The only thing I wasn't clear on: You know that you want to marry this guy, right? I wasn't sure if that was 100% established or not.

God the Father, Man of Holiness. Yes, I think that we can say that the word "MAN" applies to Him. So the answer is yes.

Yes, he did say that they looked exactly alike. Incidentally, he said the same thing about Adam and Seth. Like Father like Son I suppose.

I can tell you this much, it's a topic that often gives me a headache. There's a lot of undue speculation. How I view it: 1.) Mary is literally the biological mother of Jesus. From His mortal mother, Jesus inherits the ability to experience mortality exactly as every one of us experiences it. He also inherits the ability to die. 2.) God is literally the biological Father of Jesus. From his Father, his mortal frame inherits the ability to rise from the dead and live forever. 3.) In order to achieve his Earthly mission of overcoming death and paying for the sins of all mankind, Jesus Christ needed to have both mortal and immortal parentage. 4.) When Jesus was born, Mary was still a virgin. We live in an age where artificial insemination and invitro fertilization exist. I think it is utterly foolish to limit an all-powerful God to the necessity of having sex in order for his Only Begotten Son to be conceived. It is my strongly held opinion that jumping to other conclusions leads to nothing good and is purely speculation for speculation's sake. It leads to all sorts of silly conclusions.

Interesting. I'm not sure where you got that impression, but it's interesting. Freedom to choice doesn't really have any set beginning. The fall of Adam and Eve didn't create free agency, but it did create a world in which a full spectrum of opposites could exist. So mankind's range of choices certainly broadened as a result. Another reason we know that free agency existed prior to Adam and Eve was the counsel and subsequent war in heaven that occurred before the earth was created. Lucifer and all those who followed after him made a choice. They did not have to rebel against God their Father, but they made the choice to do so anyways. Lucifer and company made their own decisions and brought about their own fate. So even Satan had a choice. Lucifer used his free agency, and ultimately made the choice to become Satan. Same individual, different name. For the purposes of LDS theology, free agency does not have a beginning point.

I guess it comes down to this: Is there any reason we shouldn't all go running around naked all the time? Would that be wrong? The trick is, one-piece or two-piece irrespective, women's swimsuits are shrinking and shrinking. Many cover so little, they might as well not be there. So where do you draw the line? And yes, I suppose the question has to be answered: Where to you cross the line into being sinful in your apparel? If we're being honest, in almost every case, the whole point of wearing a bikini is to expose as much of a girl's body as possible, because they know it will likely get noticed and admired by guys. Wouldn't that equate to vanity and lust? Those are sins. I'm sure that a lot of girls will deny it though. It's all about tanning and stuff, bla, bla, bla. Girls aren't nearly that stupid. They KNOW that a girl with a great body in a tiny bikini is going to get noticed by all the boys, and they all want to be the girl getting noticed by all the boys.

In the purest sense, Attention Deficit Disorder is a chemical shortage, not a blood shortage. The person with ADD has a lack of neuradrenaline. This causes some interesting things to happen. The time tested solution has been to add a neural stimulant. Imagine how puzzled people must have thought when incredibly hyperactive kids were given a powerful stimulant (amphetamines) and it calmed them down. I wonder if someone will one day solve the root problem. Current treatments amount to only throwing a band aid on the problem. Caffeine is a poor choice of stimulants for self-treatment of ADD. It really isn't terribly helpful, in my experience.

For this part, I seriously wish we had a Calvinist to both defend and explain their beliefs. You will never gain a true appreciation of a denomination's beliefs if they are not part of the discussion. Nobody can do true justice to any belief set unless it is their own. This part falls straight into what I myself, and many other Christians disagree with. But to answer the question, from the LDS perspective, you do not have to be robbed of your will for God to remain All-Powerful. I'm not familiar enough with Arminianism to truly comment. Close cousin of Calvinism. It sounds to me like the Arminian view is the more logical conclusion. I think most human beings realize that they do indeed have free will. Yes free agency existed before and after the fall. Adam and Eve could not have made the choice to partake of the forbidden fruit without it, now could they? So what we have left is this: What part of LDS belief is still unclear? What could be better explained?

In that case I believe God is Sovereign. If God is the being that I know personally, then He ultimate source of good and wants good, peace, happiness and joy to abound in this world. If the God I worship does not limit himself, then we would not see sin, sickness, poverty and misfortune in this world. The fact that such things exist makes it quite evident that He is limiting Himself. So for the matter of sovereignty, the fact that God limits His influence on human events does not make Him any less sovereign. Everything works together to fulfill His plan and establish His eternal kingdom, it's our choice whether or not we will be part of it. And because of the concept of Eternal Progression (and not in spite of it) there is a logical reason for the state of this lost, fallen and sinful world we live in. This is our time to grow while God our Father keeps at enough distance to let his children grow, and pick them and mend their wounds when the fall and hurt themselves and come to him crying. We are mended, then we head back into the lost and fallen world to learn and grow some more. So if we consider that all of this is according to His plan and not contrary to it, then discussing His lack of sovereignty wouldn't make any sense, right?

It's been tough times, what with all my hair falling out repeatedly, and growing back in repeatedly. What's up with that anyways?

I went on a quest, just as the Straw Man in the Wizard of Oz. But I was not looking for a brain for myself. I was looking for a woman with an impressive one, and she had to be the hottest thing ever too. All I wanted in a woman who was: 1.) A girl who was just as smart as me. I'm not super-smart (my wife can verify), but I seemed to attract a lot of girls who really really really weren't so smart. You can't have an interesting conversation with an idiot, trust me! 2.) Beautiful. Stunning. Sexy (wait, is that word allowed?). 3.) Great testimony and true depth in the Church. 4.) She had to be weird. One Flew Over the Cookoo's nest weird. Weird like me!!! The list could go on, and most of the best stuff can't be shared;). But I got all I wanted and more. So what things are really different about her, that really stand out. She's a beautiful girl who is very smart. She's my kind of weird. That's all I have to say about that. Good night. Faded

You could read through my story on my page for a longer run-through. I was born into this Church, but I was also raised to never take anything as true unless I knew firsthand from God that it was true. So after many instances of personal prayer to God and spiritual confirmation that it is true and that it is where I need to be, it's second nature to me. I know what I am, through and through, head to toe. I'm very analytical so I do love how everything falls into place logically, but that is not my core reason for being LDS. Just a few examples of the beautiful logic: 1.) God is our Father, every human being to ever live was and is his child. He is the literal father of our spirits. 2.) Gender is eternally significant and relevant. 3.) God spoke in the past and he speaks now. His words to day are just as important as his words from thousands of years ago. 4.) God our Father is all-powerful, all-knowing, and his power touches everything. He wants us, His children to grow up to be what he is.

What is your definitions of the word Sovereignty as it relates to God? It would be a good starting point if we can get on the same page in terms of vocabulary. From my point of view, I see absolutely no conflict between Eternal Progression and the Sovereignty of God.

The LDS answers are very simple. 1.) Yes we believe that God is a Sovereign Lord. 2.) No we are not going to take another viewpoint on the word "Sovereign" and completely rework our definition of the word to satisfy someone else's sense of theological correctness. As such, our conclusions may differ from other religions. 3.) We believe that God granted all mankind free will and that God does not forcibly impose his will on His children. We choose to come unto Him or not to come unto Him. We choose to stay in the covenant with God or we choose not to. God does not force us to do anything against our will. Could He force us to do things against our will if he wanted to? Yes, I suppose He certainly could. But it's a moot point because He doesn't. 4.) While I can see where John Calvin came up with the idea of predestination, we do not believe that it is a true doctrine. From my LDS point of view, the doctrine seems to mean, "A free pass to heaven" handed out to some people at birth. Everyone else gets a "Go straight to Hell, do not pass Go, do not collect $200" card at birth. We believe that everyone has a choice in the matter. 5.) The critical importance that Latter Day Saints place in free-agency is the main reason that this particular Calvinist doctrine will seem very strange to Latter Day Saints. 6.) We do not go out of our way to attack this or any other doctrine. If you want an LDS opinion on Predestination and Free Will ... well, you asked for it, so you got it. Beyond those points, I don't honestly know what other LDS answers you want and what part of the LDS perspective need any further clarification. I'm game as long as the conversation remains respectful. I think I'm not alone among LDS forum members who have a lot of reason to believe that this is just a setup to open up an attack on our beliefs. But what the heck, we'll give it another try and see if this time is any different. Erik has already made his contempt for the LDS point of view on these matters fairly clear, and that before anyone has gone to any effort to actually explain our side in any detail at all, so that's not exactly a good sign.

I'm just amused that there are more men responding to the thread than women. As an LDS man with a strong sense of the importance of modest in apparel, I can say this much. I won't wear a bikini! Not ever! One piece and topless all the way baby!!

It's known as a gray area, and it's a gray area because the General Authorities have never officially defined "no hot drinks" as "no caffeine." Common sense would say that caffeine is bad for you and that you shouldn't consume it, but I think it is extremely important to remember that the choice is personal. If you make the decision to eliminate caffeine from your life, then good for you. Just don't start imposing your personal choice upon others. The Word of Wisdom HAS been defined and expanded. Basically, all your typical illegal drugs, though not mentioned in the original revelation, are against the Word of Wisdom. So the "thou shalt not" of the Word of Wisdom list would include: Alcohol Coffee Tea Tobacco Marajuana Cocaine Angel Dust L.S.D. Crystal Meth Heroine Opium Ect, etc, etc My point is that the prophets of God (the General Authorities) have not been sitting idle for the past 170-odd years. They didn't leave it for the members of the LDS Church to figure it out by themselves whether illegal drugs are against the Word of Wisdom. They are. So even if you live in a place where cocaine use is not illegal, you can know that cocaine is still against the Word of Wisdom. In that same period of time, the General Authorities have been asked and pestered and solicited and plead with and begged to define caffeine as "officially against the Word of Wisdom." No such declaration has occurred yet, in spite of numerous requests. As such, drinking a Dr Pepper is not breaking the Word of Wisdom. It's still bad for you, and you ought to consider that fact, but it's not going to keep you from getting a temple recommend. Nope, hot cocoa is not included. Personally, I love the stuff. The prophets have explained that the "hot drinks" was referring to coffee and tea. So iced coffee and iced tea would be prohibited as well.

Okay, so moving away from the hypothetical and back to the reality -- from my understanding, Cadley's husband is neither abusive nor continuing to cheat on her. How are things progressing? What is working? What isn't working? One goal that both of you should have in mind is that ultimately, your priorities in should look like this: 1.) God 2.) Spouse 3.) Children 4.) Church 5.) Career (if you work) Everything should fall in order like that. If you are staying together, then eventually, your husband should be the second only to God in your life. You should be second only to God in his life. There should be no question in the mind of either of you that they are the top priority after God alone. That is one of the things the two of you should be working towards. Creating that outlook in light of adultery can be difficult, but I can tell you first hand that it can be done.

Underlying thing: God will sort out the messy details. We trust that God is perfectly merciful and perfectly just. A temple wedding is sealed in the sense that, "Whatsoever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven ..." It is by exactly THAT authority that a marriage in the temple is sealed. As such, breaking that connection is no light thing. The truth of the matter is that: a.) We should not expect to turn our backs on the Lord, walk away from our covenants with Him and expect to receive the full eternal reward promised to us. b.) What the Lord does with that person is between the person and the Lord. c.) It is impossible to receive the fullest reward of eternal life and exaltation without a spouse. d.) Most of the rest is speculation, we don't have 100% certainty on how the Lord will take care of it. So it's not much different than any Christian's idea of Heaven: The faithful will receive rewards beyond their comprehension. The Lord will take care of the details. We don't need to worry so much about it.

In all likelihood, we will only get a chance to read it after the Second Coming. Still, it will be interesting to know what we lost. We'll all find out eventually.

Basically, my thoughts exactly Maya. When you're talking about marriage, there's no certainty about anything. You could marry a practicing druid and later see them become Christian and LDS and with an unshakable testimony and righteousness. You could marry someone who seems to be the perfect ideal LDS girl/boy and have them completely go all to pieces, they go on a rebellious streak on you and find yourself in the most difficult marriage circumstances possible. That is why blusun7 should pray about it and follow the direction of the Holy Spirit. God can know what a girl will be in the future. Nobody else can. So above all else, follow the Spirit.

I can't say I've experienced the same thing, but I've tried to help a number of people who were in recovery from that sort of thing. Not that I'm any kind of counselor. I guess I'm just a good listener or something. One thing I can't really get a good grasp on is the type and severity of the abuse you're talking about, and that makes quite the difference. Mostly what I'm going on is your own description of your emotional state. With what information we have, it sounds like you'll end up running in circles emotionally and otherwise unless you can get some distance. Anything that you can do to put more physical distance between you and your family would probably be a very good thing. If your father and your bishop are good friends, that may handicap his ability to discern and advise in you situation, so it would be useful to get to somewhere that you and your family aren't friends to everyone. Preferably somewhere where nobody knows you or your family at all. At this point, the only way to get past what has happened is to get some distance, heal, rebuild, and eventually build up to forgiving. Also, it wouldn't hurt to have a bishop who isn't likely to second guess you at this point. There are a lot of people out there in the world and in the Church that put forward a good face, but have terrible thing happening behind the scenes. Some of those people don't even realize that this is not the way the rest of society works, and they may just figure everyone is doing the same thing as they are. It wouldn't hurt matters if your father got a wake-up call on the matter -- and then changes. Unfortunately, you can't control his choices.

I think dancing around the issue is extremely non-productive. Yes, there is a significant pornography problem in the Church. It is one of the greatest challenges facing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints today. Anyone downplaying its current rampant destruction of our Church members hasn't got their head straight. It's too easily accessible online, plain and simple. I think it's only natural to try to talk your way out of a huge black mark on the center-place of your religion. It's easily done. You won't likely hear banter about "false and misleading statistics" about the Gallup Poll that found Utah to be the happiest state in the country. Why? Because it reflects well on us. Meanwhile, you're likely to hear "false and misleading statistics" kinds of rhetoric from West Virginia, who came in last on that study. The truth of the matter is, nobody wants to be the rated the worst at a bad thing. Everyone likes to be rated first at a good thing. I'd be more interested in hearing solutions rather than excuses, personally.

Yes, there will be football. No I'm not going to explain why. It's just true.

Wow, that was LONG. Mrs Harris is an interesting and strange character indeed. I'm not entirely sure what arrangements were made to discredit Joseph Smith at that point in time. Sometimes I wonder if the 116 pages of manuscript are still out there somewhere.

It's a fact that 80% of statistics are made up on the spot. The point is that a lot of these studies are going to be flawed. It would seem rather contradictory for Utah to be found "The Happiest State in the country" and "The most Depressed State in the Country" all at the same time, right? I don't live in Utah, so I have no axe to grind. I'm enjoying my life in Chicago-land just fine. There's no rule that says you can't copy and paste. That's what I did.