MaidservantX

starting in verse 12 " . . . being raised . . . to a state of immortality, and being brought before the bar of God, to be judged according to our works. Then if our hearts have been hardened, yea, if we have hardened our hearts against the word, insomuch that it has not been found in us, then will our state be awful, for then we shall be condemned. For our words will condemn us, yea, all our works will condemn us; . . . and our thoughts will also condemn us . . . we must come forth and stand before him in his glory, and in his power, and in his might, majesty, and dominion, and acknowledge to our everlasting shame that all his judgments are just; that he is just in all his works, and that he is merciful unto the children of men, and that he has all power to save every man that believeth on his name and bringeth forth fruit meet for repentence." (ending in verse 15). Here we learn that whatever condition we are in is between us and God. We choose our words. We choose our thoughts. We choose our works. And at the point at which we are raised immortal and are brought to have that interview with God . . . the time is over to be able to say any more words, think any more thoughts, and do any more works . . . as it relates to our mortal probation. And so -- what our previous words, thoughts and works have been will be the only ones there are when we are presented at the bar. We are reminded (verse 15) that mercy and repentence and saving is easily and abundantly available during mortality and we can be cleaned of words, thoughts and works that are barriers between us and God. But at that day at some future point the time will be past, and we will have become what we are and what we wanted to be and what we labored to be and become. In this sense we self-select/self-judge for which condition we will be in, post-final judgment. It is not a matter of earning a reward. It is a matter of what nature will we be? We recall Alma's words in chapter 5:33-34 "Behold, he sendeth an invitation unto all men, for the arms of mercy are extended towards them, and he saith: Repent, and I will receive you . . . Come unto me and ye shall partake of the fruit of the tree of life; yea, ye shall eat and drink of the bread and the waters of life freely." Alma 5 goes hand in hand with these Alma 12 verses beautifully. Alma 5:19 "the image of God engraven upon your countenances" OR v20 "can ye think of being saved when you have yielded yourselves to become subjects to the devil?" In that chapter, he also speaks of the time becoming too late. (Let me be clear -- if you are still alive right now, it's not too late. Even if you die, it may not be too late, for the spirit world is still part of our mortal probation. Alma 12 says that the final judgment happens when we are raised to our immortality -- that is the too late point. 2 Nephi 9:4 says, "ye know that our flesh must waste away and die; nevertheless, in our bodies we shall see God." see also Alma 5:15) We also hear a similar teaching in 1 John in the New Testament (although it speaks more of the second coming than the final judgment) (beginning with ch 2 verse 28) "And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him. . . . (ch3v2) Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure . . . (v9) Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God . . . (v20) for if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things". Here is another interesting phrase: v 13 " . . . insomuch that [the word] has not been found in us". How do we get the word in us? I like that!. (BTW, I have not spoken to define what "condemnation" means; that is another thread. Suffice it to say that 1) it should not be thought of as the hell sectarianism imagines -- although the reality will be quite awful as well; and 2) it can be at least partly defined as being cut off from God and his presence. We may touch more upon this condemnation in the 5th and final point I will eventually make from these great Book of Mormon verses -- 2 Ne 12:1-19.)

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Yay! on the baptism. Welcome to our site, and I hope you participate a lot.

Welcome, Rico. It is wonderful to hear you and your family progressing in the gospel and the Church. See you around.

Welcome!

Welcome, I am a mother too. See you around.

Welcome. :)

Hi, Marie. I can hardly wait to hear your knowledge.

Hi, Mist. Hey, check out the Groups and the Gallery -- you might find some people who have things in common as far as computer and art. See you around! :)

Hi, Tracey. Welcome. I am a mother also. :)

Voice lots of Bible and Book of Mormon here, ha ha. Welcome.

"Can I wear makeup when I'm ten?" my daughter asked me. "No," I answered. "Can I wear makeup when I'm twenty?" I gasped. "Uh . . . honey, when you're twenty you can have a baby!" When the two year old has an owie, she complains of a "dinosore". She's completely serious and doesn't understand the joke. "Mommy, I have a dinosore . . ." My husband was a frequent volunteer at my four year old son's pre-school. Our son was so happy to have Dad there. Meanwhile, I was busy with work and school, so I was only able to come to his class once at the end of the year. My son was a little cautious about this. "I think only Daddy's can come," he said. [these are some I wrote down several years ago when my teenagers were small. The four year old is now 13 ]

Actually this sounds like a wonderful opportunity to share. I can hardly wait to hear the responses. :)

On a practical note, I think Mormon makes mention somewhere (Words of Mormon?) that Nephi through Omni is NOT an abridgment, but that he found the records and thought they were perfect for the timeline he was making and just tacked them on (to the plates).

The wind blows and we feel it. Wind exists. The sun shines and we feel it. The sun -- so far away! -- exists. We eat a big bowl of ice cream at midnight and we can feel the heartburn. We feel a lot of things. Feeling is a very acceptable way to receive input information upon which to base conclusions. The Holy Ghost and the Spirit cause sensations in the human body (including the mind and heart) that can be felt, yes. But they are forces in the universe that (likely) come to us over great distances (or where from?), not internal electrical and chemical (emotional) processes. Our bodies are instruments capable of capturing input from the Holy Ghost. It's not a mental theory that can be laid out. It will and always will be experiential. It is a journey that no one can take for another (parable of the ten virgins' oil in the lamp). A person can only trust -- yes, trust -- enough to take a few steps into the promises that Jesus Christ has given us. There is no other way by which these things can be understood or become of any use to an individual.

Hi, found, this is a great question! And . . . what did you learn today? In our Sacrament meeting, the theme of the speakers was the "Everlasting Priesthood". A high councilman spoke (a leader from the stake organization) and also a young man who is soon to be leaving on his mission to Washington state. We also had a choir number, which I directed, and lovely version of the hymn "How Great the Wisdom and the Love" -- one of my favorites. I slept in Sunday School like I normally do, sigh, but I do believe we were learning from what King Benjamin taught (Book of Mormon). I also play the piano in Primary, which is with the children, and the "sharing time" leader taught us a little bit of interesting stories about each of the 16 prophets we have had in the latter days, and a little something about what each of the prophets were known for teaching. I enjoyed that. His first talk, NIL? coool!

If you get to the point of trying the flavors of ice cream -- then if you are looking for chocolate, but you can't find it because you are stuck in a tub of vanilla . . . I'm a big believer in asking -- what do you want for your life; what do you want out of life? If you decide those questions in the sense of the purpose of life and the purpose of your individual life, then it might be of common sense to seek a pathway for that destination. You could listen to others try to teach you what the purpose of life is or ought to be, but we each have to decide for ourselves. I can see easily, depending on the answer to those questions that a person might have for themselves how the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Christianity in general; or any religion at all -- might not be the right choice for an individual. "Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?""That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat. "I don't much care where –" said Alice. "Then it doesn't matter which way you go," said the Cat. "– so long as I get somewhere," Alice added as an explanation. "Oh, you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."

I know for a fact that my husband's great-grandmother healed and blessed by the laying on of hands (I think only for other women). I do not know if this was priesthood or faith, or what it was exactly that she declared in her blessings and healings. I do know that this took place post 1900 (very early in that century). I know that people (women? about to give birth?) would call upon her for if they needed blessings. I do not know if it was just this women (the great-grandmother) that did laying on of hands, or if other women in the church in this community also were in the habit. At present I would feel uncomfortable doing the same unless there was some clear direction on it coming down from the present prophet. On the other hand, in my interviews with my children (weekly in general, although we are on again, off again at times) -- I always conclude the interview by having the child and myself kneel; then I touch their shoulder or put my arm around them; and then I pray to the Father on behalf of that child specifically and individually. I often will say, "All right, now I will pray over you." I didn't intentionally start out to say that, but that is what I commonly call it. In my prayers I ask for whatever I feel my child needs and I ask in a confidence that my prayers will be directly effective. I don't consider this prayer an act of the priesthood per se, but I do feel that I have authority through my stewardship as a mother to be heard for this child and to call upon blessings from the Father for my child. It is a very sacred moment. All of God's work is done by priesthood power, I believe. That is . . . if you sum up the priesthood into the Aaronic and the Melchizedek and its offices that are evident in the church government, you have not gotten the whole sum of the priesthood power that exists in the universe with the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost as its source; or even all the priesthood power that may be understood to be on the earth at this time. Of course, all priesthood power must also have authority. Authority and power must work together for priesthood to be . . . effective? true? (better words?). It is my personal opinion that God can organize his priesthood power into whatever organization, government and authority scheme best suits his purpose for the salvation of his children at any given time on the earth, and perhaps also dependent upon our faith and faithfulness to what we already possess. It is evident that he has used a few different set ups over mortal history. Although I have studied and thought on this matter (women and priesthood) a great deal and I personally think that I understand some things that others are not willing to, I find also that there is nothing to gain by attempting to "get ahead" of what the Lord and his prophet choose to instruct us with at the present. Perhaps in the future I will find my personal understandings either confirmed or corrected by continuing revelation from the prophet on the subject.

Maureen is a long time member of this site and its predecessor, and although she hardly needs me to defend her, I will state that she has a habit of contributing respectfully, positively and intelligently. I, for one, love having her around.

Kudos, tom. I think you are right. Her thoughts and feelings at that age are exactly normal, and it will probably end up being a very good thing. God bless.

I doubt it. If he's a good man, he's just doing his best like the rest of us. If he's a bad man, well then, he'll experience consequences from such.

Kona, your humility and courage blow me away. Thanks! I hope you stick around here and help out with the learning and the teaching others for quite some time. :)

If you want to have the same understanding that members of the Church of Jesus Christ have about God, then feel free to study the same materials that we do. Start here: :) Topical Guide: God Also, there is a new website that is now available, officially from the Church: Jesus Christ, The Son of God If you don't want to have the same understanding that members of the Church have about God, then what is the purpose of your questions? Thanks for your great spirit of friendship! :)

lostnfound . . . these kinds of questions we have answered many, many times. We respect your beliefs. It is okay if you don't believe as we do. If you don't want anything different in your life than you already have, then I don't see the point to the questions. If you just want a clear explanation, then you have the same study materials available to you as we do: the scriptures, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (lds.org), and another great one (not officially by the church but where a lot of these questions have been asked and answered) is LDS FAIR Apologetics Homepage. Happy seeking! :)

It may be that we don't know God's real name. All we have are the things that men call Him in their languages and in their weakness.