JohnOF123

Ohh, okay. Thx.

I had an encounter with an angel, or some spiritual being sent from God. Here is my story: One spoke to me through a sleeping child, at 3am. I was walking down a hallway and a child sprang up asleep (kneeling), not facing me (not even knowing of my being present), and spoke clearly to change the course of my entire life. The small child spoke 7 very clear, very intelligent, very direct words that stopped me from making a bad decision I was just about to make in mere minutes after contemplating something all night. I contemplated, made my mind up, walked by and bam, an angel raised the child, spoke the words, then silence. Keep in mind this was the most immature, silly, and young child that never spoke words like this, could not read minds and didn't know I was there, or my situation. After the child spoke these words, the child paused for a few seconds while I was stunned, and fell face forward back in bed. I paced with awe, i was in shock and my life has never been the same. God can merely speak something and change your entire life. He knows exactly what to say, when to say it and how to get directly to the point. I asked the child, "What did you say?" "Why did you say that?" "Hey, wake up!" Nothing. The child was asleep and the angel was either not present, or not authorized to speak any longer. Perhaps it was Jesus, perhaps an angel, I have no idea. But I do know, it was NOT the child. What puzzles me is that I was not yet saved; months, perhaps weeks later, I was born again.

1) The Bible never actually says where Noah lived prior to the flood. If Noah and his family lived in that Black Sea basin, it would explain very nicely how he ended up in the Mountains of Ararat, something that would be nearly impossible if he had simply ridden out a flood in the Tigris/Euphrates basin. Bible Study - April 2005 2) No. There were 8 people aboard. Noah, wife, 3 sons and their girlfriends/wives. 3) Family and possibly hired help. There are theories that human were bigger, stronger and lived much longer. As many animals were larger. Example; a lizard is an Amphibian, which never stops growing until death. If the different nature of the Earth sustained lizards and humans for hundreds of years, it would grow to the size of a, what we call, dinosaur. 4) Pitch - a black, sticky substance formed in the distillation of coal tar, wood tar, petroleum, etc. and used for waterproofing, roofing, pavements, etc. 5) The Earths Continents were most likely connected before the flood. Look below at the map. And hence, animals were probably not separated to different Continents until after. 6) All varieties of species did not have to be housed. Example; two wolves could easily contain all of the varieties of dog. Hundreds of new varieties have been bred in the last 200 years alone. Also, keep in mind, if Noah had to take 2 elephants... I'm sure he would take babies, or young ones. 7) NOAH was born 2948 B.C. in Shulon, East, Eden and died about 1998 B.C Check this out for more info, just found it... http://creationwiki.org/Noah's_ark Also, much can be learned by watching "Kent Hovind" seminars, lectures and debates regarding creation on YouTube. Great stuff!

Do most LDS member consider this difficult to obtain/maintain... or is this expected of everyone? And you mentioned that was a basic list. Is there a lot more, or just a little? Thx!

Coming from mainstream Christianity, this confuses me. How can one deny the Church's doctrine, yet still belong, or believe for that matter. Do many LDS members hold to this same position? Thx for the input :)

“And he said unto me: Behold there are save two churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the devil.…”—1 Nephi 14:10 I think he was just quoting this scripture. I don't think he was trying to sound narrow-minded.

CAUTION: May be too Awesome for some viewers. 1. 2. YouTube - Beyond our Universe - Infinity Zoom [HD]

Lol, I looked for a "laugh" button, but for some reason, it's not there. You should hear some of my crazy dreams. I think I sleep in too late sometimes.

(Don't mean to offend. I was asked something similar, and I enjoyed their question.)Feel free not to answer if you wish. But maybe i do misjudge Mormonism. I was always under the impression that you were living life in the direction of exaltation. Forgive me if I have this wrong. I enjoy difficult and challenging questions, and this question was meant to be purely philosophical; please don't take offense.

I've always wondered something. I know we all occasionally have "what if" moments in our head. I'd like to play a little game; an exercise really. And I am willing to play this the other way too if you like. In this theoretical scenario we can try my view first... what if, and I mean if, that when we all died, it turned out that God was the only God by Himself, and our purpose in life was to seek His exaltation, rather than our own. In this scenario, God wanted us to glorify and exalt Him, but we step before Him expecting ourselves to receive exaltation and our own glory. I know this is kind of like saying "what if Islam is right", since we turned down Allah... or like when Christians asked Richard Dawkin's (a leading atheist) what if you died and you went before God.. but Richard Dawkin's didn't answer her and everyone walked away wondering what he would have said. Anyone feel free to play along here. I am really interested in different viewpoints here from this scenario.

Ok thanks! Just curious, could you say with certainty that these are not possible?

Ok, I understand your point. But I'm still a little fuzzy on how most LDS might answer these questions. What do you think. Any chance on getting a quick response, or are those questions kinda personal. Sorry if I am prying in too much here.

A couple more related questions about God The Father. Do LDS believe that God was once a spirit baby? Was God possibly once a sinner, as a man, as we are during our progression? And finally, did He ever possibly worship another God? This will help me clear up some of my foggy views of doctrine and personal beliefs. I thank you ahead of time for your answers, but feel free to just say yes or no since I know this could be in depth. The key word is possible though.

I was always under the impression that it was believed that God was once a man by all in the LDS faith. It is very interesting to me to hear other viewpoints. I heard this following quote a long time ago. Since Joseph Smith proclaimed it, wouldn't that make it true or intertwined in doctrine? "God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted Man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens...I say, if you were to see him to-day, you would see him like a man in form -- like yourselves, in all the person, image, and very form as a man....it is necessary that we should understand the character and being of God, and how he came to be so; for I am going to tell you how God came to be God. We have imagined and supposed that God was God from all eternity, I will refute that idea, and will take away and do away the veil, so that you may see....and that he was once a man like us; yea, that God himself the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth the same as Jesus Christ himself did." (Journal of Discourses, vol. 6, p. 3).

I was asking about events, you know, like the prophets of old. Things that happen on Earth. Kingdoms, rulers being de-reigned, countries being destroyed, prophecies about specific people groups for specific actions, disasters... stuff like that. Trying to be courteous here but this is a moral warning. Everyone already agrees that if you do wrong, you will stand accountable before God. And that immoral countries are judged on earth. I am not trying to say that these prophets are saying something wrong, I am trying to find out what future events (on earth) they have prophesied about recently only because I was curious and it would be interesting.

I'm just curious, and I'm only asking because I don't know. But what are some of the modern day prophecies (events) which the LDS prophets today fortell? (or recently) Thx...

I started a thread on this. I'd be interested in your thoughts. http://www.lds.net/forums/general-discussion/30406-word-god-far-translated-correctly.html

I was wondering if someone could list from top to bottom the highest authority to least. I'm not sure if there even is an order, or if all are considered equal. So maybe this question is invalid. Beginning with the highest like this... Book of Mormon Prophets words Doctrine and Covenants Pearl of Great Price Book of Abraham etc. It doesnt have to be an official list, feel free to put what you personally consider too. But it would also be interesting to know the official position as well. Feel free to expound on your answer by saying why too, if you happen to know the reason. Thx guys!

Happy Birthday!!!

Amen.. you quote that Bible sister, lol. I'm feeling silly right now I think.

Lol, yea... that's referred to as "legalism". Some Baptist's believe that, not many I know. I've heard of women not wearing pants too.

lol

This should be a unique thread. I thought it would be very interesting to see what others find "good" about each others churches (whether individual members or a whole organization). I'll go first. I can start this off by saying that I come from a Non-denominational background (close to Baptist in my case). I have an exposure to the LDS people since some of my family are members of the church. I would say this... -The majority of Mormons I've met are well mannered, obedient and cautious of worldly living. -They have excellent family programs, zeal and respect others. -Overall, Mormons are known to be very kind people. -Their members are very dedicated, hard working and responsible. I think this is an accurate image of what most people in America see when they think about the members of the LDS Church. Feel free to state what you think about any religion or denomination.

I was referring to birth pain, death, sickness, murder, disease, etc. Please don't quote people just to simply try to pick on them. You have only tried to pick on me for my belief in original sin. My statement about reaping woe's from Adam's sin was sound and valid. Everyone was getting along nicely. I would disagree, but I have a feeling an explanation will go nowhere. I'm okay with that if you like john_doe. We've veered pretty far off the OP's subject. Soon, we will be talking about politics, lol.

Interesting, I didn't know LDS believed this. We believe all men are born spiritually dead, and when they are "born again", they are given spiritual life. And you're not ganging up too badly, lol, no worries. I think I agree here. However, I think you mean that kids sin, but are not held accountable (for their sin). Otherwise "accountable" would have no place in that sentence. I think I would agree there if that's what you meant. I totally agree that men will not be punished for Adams sin, though we reap all the benefits of his sin (sarcasm). But where you say through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel We say through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by faith alone in Jesus Christ.