mordorbund

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Posts posted by mordorbund

  1. On 3/24/2024 at 4:00 AM, Deseretdog said:

    Hello again! I was wondering if anyone had the questions/ interview process prior to getting baptized? I know that I came across them on this forum but seem to be unable to locate now. I did attempt to use the search function here but...

    You’ll be asked the following:

    Quote

    Do you believe that God is our Eternal Father? Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior and Redeemer of the world?

         Do you believe that the Church and gospel of Jesus Christ have been restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith? Do you believe that [current Church President] is a prophet of God? What does this mean to you?

         What does it mean to you to repent? Do you feel that you have repented of your past sins?

         You have been taught that membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints includes living gospel standards. What do you understand about the following standards? Are you willing to obey them?

            The law of chastity, which prohibits any sexual relations outside the bonds of a legal marriage between a man and a woman

             The law of tithing

             The Word of Wisdom

             Keeping the Sabbath day holy, including partaking of the sacrament weekly and serving others

           Have you ever committed a serious crime? If so, are you now on probation or parole?

         Have you ever participated in an abortion? (see 38.6.1).

         When you are baptized, you covenant with God that you are willing to take upon yourself the name of Christ, serve others, stand as a witness of God at all times, and keep His commandments throughout your life. Are you ready to make this covenant and strive to be faithful to it?

     

  2. On 3/13/2024 at 11:54 AM, mikbone said:

    Have you tried holographic group rooms or AI surrogates, how about the OASIS?

    I actually created an AI based on my past posts to carry on for me in this forum. Turns out he doesn’t post very often either.

     

    —-generated by mordorbundchat 

  3. The “controversial” commercial:


    I struggle to see the controversy here. The message I get from it is “Yes, many people who are ideologically opposed to you are Christian. They belong in the body of Christ. So do you. There’s a place for you and a place for them.”

    It’s an attempt to invite people to fill the pews who may feel alienated by church. Once there, it’s the job of local congregations to help them feel welcome and the role of local ministers to invite the same sort of change and indwelling encouraged of long-time members. Calvary Chapel in California took a similar approach with the displaced hippies and its members today form a small Bible Belt in a land of “nones”.

  4. 12 hours ago, zil2 said:

    After perusing, it appears they do, but also that it's a "new" decision.  Not sure how long they've been doing it, but OK.  I wonder if there's a style guide somewhere...

    I thought there was a standard that said capitalize pronouns for divinity if there's some ambiguity about whether it's a member of the Godhead speaking. "And the disciple whom Jesus loved lean on His [capital, must be Jesus] breast and he [not capital, must be John] said 'Lord, who is it?'" I might have read that for another organization's publications.

    Here's something more official:

    Quote

    8.27 Lowercase references to members of the Godhead if the reference is not used as a divine title but rather as a general role or class:

    God is the greatest creator. (but God is the Creator.)
    Christ was a healer of the sick. (but The centurion approached the Healer for help.)
    The Holy Ghost is a comforter, a revelator, and a teacher. (but The Holy Ghost is the Comforter.)

    8.28 Capitalize second- and third-person pronouns referring to Deity, as well as intensive and reflexive pronouns:

    Jesus and His disciples When God created the earth, He did not create it out of nothing.
    We thank Thee, dear Father, for Thy love.
    We can show our love for Heavenly Father and Jesus by speaking Their names with reverence.
    The Son of God Himself bore the weight of the sins of all humankind.
    The Holy Ghost is known as the Comforter, and He can calm our fears and fill us with hope.

    As an exception, lowercase pronouns referring to heavenly parents.

    Lowercase the relative pronouns who, whom, and whose in references to Deity:

    We trust in a God who never fails to bless His children in the way that is best for them.

    Avoid using the second-person pronouns you and your in references to Deity. However, if they are used, capitalize them:

    “Heavenly Father, are You there?”

    8.29 Do not capitalize most terms, whether adjectives or nouns, derived from the titles of Deity:

    (God’s) fatherhood
    godlike, godly, godhood
    messianic, messiahship
    (Jesus’s) sonship

    Exceptions:

    Christlike, Christian
    God-fearing, God-given

    8.30 Capitalize the words God and Deity when used as the name or title of members of the Godhead. However, lowercase these words in general references and when they refer to non-Christian deities:

    Prophets have taught that mortals are gods in embryo.
    The god Zeus was supreme among Greek deities.
    Olympian gods; the sun god; the god Baal

    General references are frequently accompanied by articles (a, an, the), or they appear as plural forms.

    8.31 Capitalize the word Spirit in references to the Holy Ghost and the Light of Christ, but lowercase it in references to the spiritual component of the soul (mortal or immortal) or to a feeling, attitude, or influence:

    We must live by the Spirit if we are to know the things of God.
    The gifts of the Spirit will help each of us achieve our goal of eternal life.
    The Spirit of Christ is given to all persons so they can know good from evil.
    While His body was in the tomb, the spirit of Christ visited the spirits in paradise.
    “The Spirit of God like a fire is burning!”
    The spirit of God is clothed in a physical body.
    The Spirit of the Most High moved upon the face of the earth, exhorting people to repent.
    We should abide by the spirit of the law as well as the letter.
    He exhibited a bitter spirit when confronted with his wrongdoing.
    There was a beautiful spirit at the meeting, and all were benefited by attending.
    The man attributed his insight to the spirit of revelation.
    In response to the spirit of Elijah, the hearts of the children are turning to their ancestors.

    Looks like this style has been in use for 50 years.

  5. On 2/2/2024 at 8:50 AM, Just_A_Guy said:

    Someone wrote an article tracing the whole “seal of Melchizedek” thing; and it turns out that it originated from a photo caption in Nibley’s book that was actually written by a research assistant and not Nibley himself.  The RA—when approached much later about it—vaguely recalled thinking they’d seen it in a book somewhere.

    It’s an aesthetically cool motif, certainly a very old one, and I like the symbolic meaning that’s being imputed to it.  But I’m not convinced it’s an ancient symbol of Christ, priesthood, or anything else relating to the Gospel.

    EDIT:  pretty sure this is the article I was thinking of.  https://rsc.byu.edu/vol-11-no-3-2010/seal-melchizedek

    A shame this wasn’t written 7 years earlier. I mentioned to a professor that I wanted to learn more about the symbol, and he said he didn’t know anything about the Melchizedek connection. He gave me a referral to special collections so I could see it on the cover of a codex. Somehow I found a book with the Ravenna murals (did I get those from Lyons himself?) and got a friend who spoke German to translate portions for me. I even pulled up material on Melchizedek but there was nothing there.

    Gaskill, what took you so long?!?!?!

  6. On 2/6/2024 at 6:18 AM, JohnsonJones said:

    The Star of Abraham is a well known Islamic symbol used prolifically today.  I'm not sure why it doesn't show up on Google searches or other things (I did a quick check so I could post some references for everyone, but I couldn't find one on the internet via google...which is surprising to me.  It is such a well known symbol in the Middle East and it's symbology I am surprised that it isn't something that is easily found via google). 

    @Just_A_Guy’s article refers to it as Rub el Hizb. Maybe that will yield results.

  7. On 1/29/2024 at 7:36 PM, JohnsonJones said:

    I paid $1.50/gallon yesterday.  That was with some of it off (cheaper than normal), but it was quite inexpensive for me.  Bread was around $2.50 a loaf.  A Dozen eggs is under $3.  A gallon of milk is around $2.49 so not terrible.  

    If the United States is willing to get involved in the Middle East because of our interest in petroleum, I think we should do some "nation building" in India to free up their untapped dairy resources.