Seanette

In the book of Moses, we see God weeping over human wickedness. Also, in several places in Scripture, God laments over human unwillingness to be gathered to Him.

Poor Bat had to put up with me narrating the TV show I was watching . He's a tolerant guy. (Oh, and the burrito turned out to be rather good.)

I understand the grizzly will probably be OK as long as you're not hassling her cub.

This review is probably going to run a little long, especially in the Pearl of Great Price, where we learn a great deal about Adam and Eve and their family that is not in our present Bible, especially about Satan’s personality and methods (somehow, doesn’t seem surprising that that’s a large part of what’s been removed from the early portion of Genesis, since our Adversary benefits from his victims’ lack of knowledge about who/what he is and how to fight him). 1 Nephi 12: Nephi’s vision continues – he is shown the future of his descendants, including the contention that will come to be between his seed and the seed of his brothers, down to the apostasy following Christ’s visit to the New World (this falling-away is discussed in 4 Nephi). He learns that his seed will be doomed by their pride. The symbols of the vision of the Tree of Life are explained to him. The river of filthy water represents the depths of hell, the great and spacious building is the pride and vain imaginings of the world, the mists of darkness are the temptations of the devil (elsewhere, we note that being deceived by Satan is characterized as a darkening of the mind), and the gulf between the Iron Rod and the great and spacious building represents the word and justice of God, and the Messiah. 1 Nephi 13: Nephi’s vision continues: he sees the discovery and colonization of the American continent, the church of the devil taking shape, the bringing forth of the Bible and the loss of many plain and precious things from it (e.g., the information about Satan not found in the present Genesis, but found in the book of Moses). He sees the coming Apostasy, followed by the Restoration in the latter days, with additional Scripture coming forth. 1 Nephi 14: the Lord tells Nephi that repentant Gentiles will be blessed, the unrepentant will be cursed. It’s explained that there are only two churches: the Church of the Lamb of God, and the church of the devil, which is made up of all those who do not belong to the Church of the Lamb. There is no middle ground. The church of the devil will vastly outnumber the Church of the Lamb and will band together to fight the true Church, but the righteous will be granted God’s power. Nephi is shown more of the future, but is commanded to not write it, being told that is the assignment of John (whom Nephi is shown). 1 Nephi 15: L&L complain that they cannot understand their father’s words. Nephi asks them if they have inquired of the Lord. They have not, being unwilling to humble themselves to do so. Nephi explains the olive tree allegory and commands his brothers to inquire of God. They do so, and Nephi explains the Tree of Life vision to them, including the information that this is both temporal and spiritual. He tells them that their seed will receive the Gospel from the Gentiles in time. 1 Nephi 16: The wicked take the truth to be hard (this would appear to be a general human condition, as frequently as we see throughout Scripture and in our own time how hard non-believers fight to reject God’s truths and laws). Lehi’s sons and Zoram take wives from among the daughters of Ishmael (presumably, Lehi’s daughters are also marrying Ishmael’s sons). The group is given the Liahona (not yet known by that name), and discover that this guide works by their faith, pointing them in the direction they are to go and giving messages. We have the incident of Nephi’s broken bow, apparently the last working bow in the group. Everyone complains, even Lehi. Nephi doesn’t waste time murmuring and complaining, he’s too busy solving the problem by making himself another bow. It’s known that he will lead the group after Lehi does, and probably could have assumed control at this point, since Lehi is as demoralized as anyone else. Instead, Nephi honors his father as patriarch and priesthood leader by seeking his counsel on where to go to get food. This helps Lehi recover from his discouragement. Ishmael dies, and his daughters mourn. Laman, still upset over the loss of material comforts his family sacrificed to follow the commands God gave Lehi, tries to persuade his brothers and the sons of Ishmael to kill Nephi. They are chastened by the voice of the Lord. 1 Nephi 17: Nephi is commanded to begin building a boat, which his brothers oppose, since they don’t believe it can be done and don’t want to do the work. They’re still complaining over their sacrificed riches, social prestige, and comforts back in Jerusalem. Nephi reviews with them the history of God’s dealings with Israel. Nephi speaks of obedience bringing God’s favor and help in doing what is commanded. Nephi is filled with God’s power, his brothers are commanded to not touch him, until God decides to get their attention and, via Nephi, sends a shock through them. They respond by trying to worship Nephi, which he forbids, directing their worship to God, where it belongs. L&L are briefly repentant, although Nephi fears they are “past feeling”. Section 9: more records are yet to be given to man. The process of obtaining revelation is set out: we are to study out the question for ourselves, arrive at what we believe the answer to be, then seek confirmation from the Lord as to whether we’re right. The Lord, as often stated in Scripture, expects us to give our best efforts, then He’ll make up the difference between that best and what’s needed. Section 10: Joseph Smith is warned of the scheme relating to the 116 lost pages, that will be altered to supposedly discredit him when he retranslates the material. He’s instructed to use the other set of records that cover the same material (reference 1 Nephi 9) to foil this plan. Satan stirs up opposition to the work of God, among other things teaching that there is no sin in lying to supposedly catch God’s representatives in a lie. The Book of Mormon will take the Gospel to the Lamanites and all other nations. The repentant and obedient will be gathered to the church the Lord will establish. Section 11: God’s work will come forth. His servants are instructed to keep the commandments, preach repentance, seek for wisdom, trust the Holy Spirit, and study. We must obtain God’s Word before we can preach it. We are instructed to not deny revelation or prophecy. Section 12: repeats early part of Section 11 Moses 5: lots of material here that does not appear in our present book of Genesis that makes for a much clearer and more detailed narrative of events, including information about Satan’s methods. Adam and Eve begin having children. Adam offers sacrifices, not knowing why. As Nephi in 1 Nephi 9, it’s enough for Adam that the Lord commanded him to do so, he doesn’t need to know all the details many people seek before they’ll obey God. Eve expresses her gratitude for the Plan of Salvation and the knowledge of good and evil, the joy of redemption, and that they would not have had children without the Fall. They teach their children the Gospel. Satan tempts their children, draws some away from righteousness. Cain chooses to follow Satan, including taking it on himself to decide what is an acceptable offering to God rather than obeying God’s instructions on the subject. Abel is obedient, resulting in his offering being accepted while Cain’s is rejected, to his anger. The Lord warns Cain to turn back to the path of good, warning that he will become Perdition and rule over Satan, being known to posterity as the source of abominations, and will be cursed. Cain refuses to heed this warning. He marries one of his nieces, who shares his rebellion. He covenants with Satan and becomes Master Mahan, glorying in his wickedness. He kills Abel, expecting to receive Abel’s flocks and considering himself free. He is cursed and cast out, a mark placed on him. Several generations later, his descendant Lamech in turn becomes Master Mahan and kills Irad for revealing the secret Satan gave Cain. Lamech’s wives denounce him. The Earth is cursed for man’s wickedness. Even this early in history, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is being taught. Moses 6: Seth is born and is like Abel in righteousness. Adam and his family keep a book of remembrance in their pure, undefiled language (is this the language of God? I wonder). Wars and bloodshed are brought about by the wicked seeking for power by secret works. Enoch is called as prophet and begins preaching repentance and the Gospel. Baptism was taught first to Adam. Enoch explains the parallels between physical birth and baptism: water (in the womb, used to baptize), blood (at birth, the Blood of Christ to wash away sin), and spirit (the human spirit entering the body, the Spirit of God as companion and guide).

I'm thinking practical (that's me). If you know where she's going, you might consider a gift card for a store chain in that area (if doable), so she can buy stuff she needs while she's in the field (pantyhose, feminine needs, etc.). Missionaries have limited baggage allowance and budgets.

Dave Barry comments on "the hallowed Miami tradition, still observed today, under which every motorist drives according to the laws of his or her individual country or planet of origin. "

It's my understanding that a lot of them are his kids, grandkids, and so on. They were taught this all their lives.

beefche, I wish I had a laugh button for that post.

I'm there. :)

But would it get me to 20/20? I've heard not, so no point in going to the trouble and expense to still be stuck wearing glasses.

I'd gotten the impression Jack Chick was parody.

I think he's in dire need of psychiatric care, and he gives Christians in general a very bad name (in fact, I know people who think he's representative of us!).

I'm not sure about that, given that Jehovah frequently spoke for the Father, speaking as the Father would have.

Today’s reading assignment seemed to have a strong theme of illustrating that signs and intellectual proofs do not convert one to the Gospel, but that faith is required and the signs and proofs will follow faith. 1 Nephi 6: Nephi states that his purpose for writing is to persuade the reader to come to God and be saved. 1 Nephi 7: Ishmael’s family joins Lehi’s, since Lehi’s sons will need wives in order to have posterity. Interesting that the two families seemed to have similar numbers of unmarried children, in appropriate genders to match up. L&L are still stubbornly clinging to their pride and refusing to listen to what they don’t want to hear, even when they’re hearing it from an angel. This would seem to be one of many examples given in Scripture as to why one should not look for signs or manifestations to gain faith. These things only make an impression on one who already has faith, and those who do not will find some way to avoid believing what they saw or heard. However, they’re still at least somewhat capable of repentance at this point, since they do apologize to Nephi and to God for misconduct. 1 Nephi 8: Lehi’s vision of the Tree of Life, the Iron Rod, and so forth. To me, the only thing someone who believes in God and His words can do is to hold to the Iron Rod, stay focused on the goal of the Tree of Life, and disregard distractions. Letting go of that rod to wander off into the mists of darkness (such as by giving heed to materials meant to tear down faith) or to join the “in crowd” or self-proclaimed “intellectual elite” in the great and spacious building to join in mockery of believers will certainly lead to destruction. Note that the great and spacious building has no solid foundation in this vision, but is in the air. 1 Nephi 9: Nephi is instructed to make two sets of plates. He doesn’t know why, but for him, it’s enough that the Lord commands it. This is definitely a lesson on how we should approach God’s commands: we don’t need to know why (and might well not understand, given the limitations of our knowledge and understanding while we’re here in mortality), we need to trust that God has His reasons and purposes for all that He requires. (Of course, modern readers know that this has to do with the loss of the first 116 translated pages, and Joseph Smith needing to have a second source for the information covered therein, 2400 years later.) 1 Nephi 10: Lehi knows of Christ, 600 years before His coming, and knows about what He will do. Lehi compares Israel to the olive tree (this comparison will be greatly expanded on in Jacob 5). 1 Nephi 11: Nephi believes his father, but wants to know for himself, so inquires of God and is granted a vision that covers the Tree of Life and Jesus’ life and ministry. Nephi makes the point that we do not need to know all things to believe, but that knowledge is a gift coming from the Holy Spirit by faith. Section 5: discussion of the Three Witnesses – Martin Harris is invited by God to repent in order to become one of those three, but is warned that he must let go of pride and humble himself before God. Joseph Smith is told that God’s word will come to this generation through him, and the Lord states that those who will not believe His words wouldn’t believe signs. The Lord says He will prove His words. (The statement about God’s word and Joseph Smith was fulfilled in great measure, with the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price, Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible, and many sermons and writings that are not considered Scripture but are still of spiritual value.) Section 6: The first five verses appear four times in the D&C, the first nine twice. This level of repetition means this is important information. We are to seek to do God’s work, remembering that eternal life is of greater worth than worldly riches. We are to keep sacred things among the faithful, who are equipped to understand them. Those built on God’s rock will prevail. Section 7: John the Beloved Disciple will tarry on the Earth until Christ’s return, in order to minister to the heirs of salvation. Section 8: revelation is given by the power of the Holy Ghost, according to one’s faith. Moses 3: spiritual creation took place before physical. There are details here that have me wondering about the exact sequence of the physical creation, since Adam is described as the “first flesh” on the earth. Does this mean that the physical creation had Adam arriving first, then plants, animals, etc.? Does it really matter that much? In any event, Adam is instructed not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. He’s told that it’s his choice, but if he does, he will die in that day. As we see as the narrative progresses, Adam experiences spiritual death shortly after partaking of the fruit, by being cast out of the presence of God. From then on, God the Father only communicates directly with man a very few times, to introduce the Son and command the listener to hear Him. (Note: elsewhere in Scripture, we’re told a day of God’s time is 1000 years in our Earth time. Adam is stated in Genesis to have died at age 930. Thus, his physical death DID occur in that day.) Adam names the animals. Eve is created, and she and Adam are married. Since there is not yet death in the world, their marriage is for eternity. Moses 4: the Lord tells Moses about Satan’s rebellion against the Plan of Salvation, and how he was cast down. Satan shows up in the Garden of Eden and tempts Eve, who chooses to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam chooses to stay with Eve so that they can obey the command to multiply, and partakes. They discover their nakedness and make aprons of fig leaves to cover themselves. When God calls for them, they hide. They finally emerge and explain the situation, in history’s first recorded case of “passing the buck”. Adam tries to give responsibility for events to Eve, saying she gave him the fruit. Eve responds by passing responsibility to Satan, saying he beguiled her into eating. The Lord curses Satan and places enmity between him and the seed of the woman (a reference to Christ, since He was the only person ever to come of mortal woman without the seed of a mortal man being involved). Satan will bruise Christ’s heel (I see this as a reference to the Crucifixion, with nails through His feet or ankles), Christ will either bruise or crush Satan’s head (different verbs are used in different places to indicate what will happen). Adam and Eve are given coats of skins to cover themselves. This to me represents the sacrifice of Christ’s life to “cover” or pay for our sins, with shedding of blood. Note that the covering Adam and Eve attempted to make for themselves was inadequate, thus God supplied a covering to meet their needs. Both receive labor and suffering (Eve by childbearing, Adam by working to provide for his family) as a result of their transgression, Adam is given presiding authority over Eve. The Earth is cursed to bring forth unpleasant things and to only give Adam and Eve their needs by toil. They are cast out of the Garden of Eden, and a guard is placed at the Tree of Life to keep Adam and Eve from partaking of that fruit, which would lead to them living forever in their sin.

My husband figures that drivers offering a "one-finger salute" are announcing their IQs.

Personally, with my correction (ca. -8 each eye), I'm pretty sure that even if I could afford either LASIK or PRK, I wouldn't be a candidate anyway.

How long ago was that, Dr. T? Trust me, it's that bad here now.

I'll pull the OT schedule together sometime in the next 78 days . (Most likely within a week or two. I like lots of lead time.) I found a 40-day schedule for the NT on some Protestant church's site, but I'm not sure I really like it. May do some tweaking over the next few weeks. Hope no one finds my doing them in Excel annoying, for me it's the simplest approach.

I know you're already doing a lot, but could we also have forums for the NT in 40 days challenge next month, pretty please with your choice of unhealthy tasty bribe?

I know, maybe I'm overplanning , but after the New Testament challenge, there'll be enough time left in 2009 to do the OT in 100 days. Anyone interested?

They don't here in Sacramento, either.Honestly, all of the "Utah driver" behavior I've seen described applies very well to Sacramento, too. I don't think we have all that large a population of Utah transplants.

When I do use IRC (rarely), ChatZilla (Firefox extension) works fine. I tend to not enjoy trying to decipher chatspeak, and find that most chat rooms I've inhabited attract rather immature types (hopefully, one oriented toward LDS would attract a more literate, less vulgar crowd).

Well, I'm on the slightly altered schedule, but here's what I posted yesterday over on Watchmen on the Tower (not terribly profound, but it's what registered on me as I read): Yeah, this is going to be intense, especially for the overkill types like me who insist on using Institute manuals along with the Scriptural text. At least it's a productive use of that time (vs. fiddling around online, doing sudokus, etc. (smile)). Overall note: while doing today's reading, I was strongly impressed by the richness of our latter-day Scriptures and all the wonderful truths we've been given back by modern prophets. I've experienced Bible-only Christianity, and without intending to bash, I feel a great deal of sorrow for those who reject all this Word of God because of the false doctrine they've been taught, that the Bible is all of God's Word we have. Intro to the Book of Mormon: Greg's wonderful on the witness testimonies sums it up nicely. Of eleven men, generally held in high regard in their communities, quite a few of whom left the Church, not one denied his testimony of the Book of Mormon. With eleven witnesses for and no proof against, how do you not believe that testimony, unless you're too proud to listen to God?I also noted that the Prophet spent years being trained and prepared to do the work he'd been called to (that never really registered before). 1 Nephi 1-5: it never ceases to amaze me, no matter how many times I read these chapters, just how stubborn and proud Laman and Lemuel (hereafter L&L) are. These men saw angels, but still rebelled, since their pride and their material riches mattered more to them than the commands of the Lord. It's this same pride and love of worldly things, I think, that causes rejection of prophets throughout history. If you're not willing to admit to the existence of a Being wiser and more intelligent than mortal man, you're certainly not going to listen to His spokesmen. (For some reason, every time I read this part of the Book of Mormon, I keep hoping L&L will clue in and do what they should.) Nephi is confident the Lord will make it possible to obey Him. Possible, yes. Easy, no, as Nephi finds out when told to kill Laban. I can sympathize with his shock at this and his uncertainty as to just where this command is coming from. We see here what the Prophet found out just before the First Vision, that if we ask God for the wisdom (and knowledge) we need, He will give generously without rebuking us for asking. I think it pleases the Lord when we humble ourselves enough to admit that we need His help, and that He will reward us for that humility. Pride isn't the only thing that can lead to rebellion against God: Sariah's fear for her sons shows that. Fearing the cost of obedience will prompt "Do I really have to do this? Does God really know what He's doing?" Again, we need to seek wisdom from the Lord to confirm His control of events and His plan. D&C: It's worth noting that this is the only one of our Standard Works to have a preface given by the Lord Himself. Section 1 covers the apostasy and restoration, and describes the restored Church as the only true and living church on the Earth. Yes, we need to treat other churches with respect for the good they have, but that doesn't mean compromising on our position as the true Church of Jesus Christ, even if it does offend the proud who do not wish to admit that a Restoration was needed to begin with. In this section, we're also reminded that God's word is the same whether given directly or via prophets, and that we need to repent of sins, which the Lord cannot tolerate. He promises us forgiveness if we repent, and wants all His children on Earth to come to Him and heed His eternal truths. Section 2: the message of this section appears in all the Standard Works. If the Lord repeats Himself this many times, it must be very important information. Section 3: even those possessing the greatest natural or spiritual gifts need to repent of sin and heed God's commands over man's opinions and persuasions. We also learn in this section, which deals with the 116 lost pages, that we must be careful about giving sacred things to those who do not have the capacity to hold them sacred, and that God's work will go on, regardless of the failings of the humans involved. Section 4: command to seek after things of God and serve Him with total commitment Pearl of Great Price: here we have mostly material restored in connection with the Prophet's inspired translation of the Bible. On a personal note, I dearly love the JST for its clarity and richness as material is restored and errors corrected. One thing that should be remembered in Scriptures in the Old Testament time period is that Jehovah is the premortal Jesus. Since the Fall banished mankind from being able to be in the presence of the Father, it's the Son who deals with us in this time period. Moses 1: Moses learns that he is a son of our Heavenly Father, and is taught of Jesus. Satan tries to take God's place, demanding that Moses worship him, but the prophet can clearly see that he's dealing with an impostor and banishes Satan by God's power (a lesson for us all in learning to see Satan's ploys and fight him). There is mention of information in this record not had among men due to wickedness, and Moses is shown other worlds created by God. He's told that God's work is to bring His children eternal life. Moses 2: we see the six days of Creation. Note that a "day" here does not necessarily mean 24 hours in current Earth time.

I might, if it were a movie my husband had no interest in and my friend and I did. I would, of course, make sure my husband was OK with this and be very upfront and aboveboard about the whole thing.

They do that here in Sacramento, too.