Old Tex

I think it could more correctly be considered as a "companion" to the bible wherein they support each other in their testimony that Jesus is the Christ. Put whatever word you want on it, but that is the relationship. They both are "God's written word".

Jesus loves me this I know, for the bible tells me so, LITTLE ONES TO HIM BELONG, I am weak but He is strong. Funny how something like that can pop up after seven decades.

Do you mean the James Strang who claimed to have succeeded Joseph Smith, set up his church on an island, and proclaimed himself king? James Strang - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I would guess that it would hold meaning to the folks who live in the area. It will make their travel time and expense less, which was one of the stated purposes for building more temples closer to the members.

Untrue rumor. Church never owned Coca Cola, but it makes a nice rumor for the anti's to repeat over and over.

No. There was no Coka Cola Company in the 1830s and 1840s.

As a LDS member, PC, my objection is to being labeled as "non-Christian" mainly because I do not accept the usual teaching of the Trinity. This seems to be the yardstick that one is measured by in the eyes of many. I was raised a Baptist and was active in the Baptist Church for over 30 years. For the last 40 years I have been LDS. I still have faith in and worship the "same" Christ. I still accept Him as my Savior. My relationship with Him has not changed, except I understand Him and His Father better and on a more personal level. And yet, because I do not believe what some councils of men decided three hundred after Christ's death, I am told that I am not a Christian? Baloney! I just get tired of others telling me what they think I am, or am not, when they don't have a clue.

Indeed, John, I agree with where you are going. There is a term that I see used more and more on various boards now to help distinguish the two. It is "Creedal Christians". Those Evangelicals (and any others) who believe in the Creeds of the third and fourth centries ( which is the source of the teaching of the Trinity), and those "Non-Creedal Christians" who do not.

The WoW does not mention tea or coffee. It says "hot drinks". The predominant hot drinks of the day were tea and coffee. It also said tobacco and mentions meat, except in cold weather. Later, when the WoW was accepted as a commantment, and was binding as such on the Saints, the "hot drinks" were accepted to mean coffee and tea. There was no attempt at an analysis. As in many cases, the individual has to decide what that means to him or her. One can follow the description, (coffee and tea) or one can rationalize away as much of it as one chooses. It's between the individual and the Lord.

Sorry, with the small print and no paragraphs I couldn't get more than halfway finished. Besides, I'm looking forward to getting through this mortal life and moving on to the next one. What's to fear?

Welcome back, Seattle. I hope your stay this time will be a permanant one. I think many of us feel the need to wander a little, but when we do come back, it's like coming home to stay.

Let's don't get restrictions on the Priesthood and accountability before the Lord mixed up. There are millions and millions who did not receive the Priesthood in this life , and also millions and millions who died with no accountability, but I do not see what they have to do with each other.

I have been giving that verse about "every knee shall bow" some thought for several months now. Some seem to look at it as, "all shall be convinced by faith", and "confess" that Christ is the Savior. I have been seeing it as all will "acknowledge" that Christ is the Savior, but acknowledgement does not always imply "conversion". The scriptures also state that the devils believe that Christ is the Savior, and they tremble. It seems to me that many of those who "confess" will actually only be "acknowledging". (And I suspect will be trembling at the same time).

Well, yes, they may end up in that far dim corner of "Heaven", but not until after someone pays for their sins. And since they made no "arrangements" for Christ to pay for them, they will have to do that themseves before their resurrection. These are those who are resurrected last, probably because it takes a loooong time in "hell" for one to atone for their own sins before they can receive their resurrection.

When giving a prayer in public, we are asked to consider the use of the old English personal pronouns (Thee, Thou and Thine) to address Heavenly Father. I think the use of this terminology is fitting in this case, as it serves to separate our addressing Him in public from the more casual "you" and "yours". I don't see anyone in the Church being "mandated" to do anything, however.

The mother or father of the baby should ask the ward clerk for a blessing form and fill it out. It will contain the information that the clerk will enter into the membership section of the MLS program to record the baby as a "child of record". This does not mean that it is a "LDS member" the same as the parents are, but the necessary information will be there to show that it is a child of the parents. There is a Certificate of Blessing that the clerk can print for the parents if they desire one, but no record of the blessing is recorded in the computer. The information is used to place the child in the proper Primary class as it grows and if it is baptised when it is eight years old, the status is then changed by the clerk from a "child of record" to a "baptized member".

In the long run everyone (except a few sons of perdition) will be released from "Hell". It just depends of how long it takes them to provide their own atonement. Eventially the "gates of hell" will be opened, and all will receive a resurrection, and as a result Christ will proclaim that He has put "death and hell" under His feet and has gained victory over them. I can't help but wonder how many future eons it will take for all this to happen and for the human family to get sorted out and settled in at a degree of glory they qualify for.

It is accurate if you are using the word "salvation" to mean resurrection, as most LDS do. If you are speaking of exaltation, then for a male, faith, repentence, baptism, confirmation, and ordination to the Melchizedek Priesthood is necessary.

Rachelle..... It's fast coming up on 3AM and I have to get some snooze, but let me give you something to chew on until tomorrow evening. There are often more facets to something than what first appears. Do you think that you are struggling with the spiritual side of abortion and gay marriage issue, or are you looking at them from the political or temporal side? I feel that it may be from the political or temporal side. Try to sort this out in your own mind and see if you can discover which side your feelings come from. Also, remember that one the more effective tools that Satan uses is that of self doubt, so don't let it eat on you too much. Everyone is affected by that once in a while......yes, even me.

I wish you well in getting your understanding across to your class in RS. I find that I "hold back" in both SS and PH classes because I don't want to get the teachers in "too deep" for many in the class. I try to remember that there are those in the classes that bearly have the basics down and have not had the advantage of years of study that I have had. That's why places like this are good for those who want to expand a little and let their hair down.

Thanks, Justice. I have heard it said by others that they are always learning something new when going through an endowment session. I was reminded of this the last time I participated in one. I came out realizing that Eve probably had a better understanding of the purpose of the fruit before she ate it than Adam did. There seems to be more that's "unsaid" in the scriptures than there is "said".

There was a little more than that. What you didn't see was the negotiations on the finances....Salary, housing, car, clothing allotment, retirement plan, does he have a family and if so, their expenses,...etc, etc. In this "professional clergy system" one object has to be to make a living. And one peril is that if his "preaching" begins to offend the congregation (no matter how much they may be "guilty") his "employment" is subject to the same panel of church officials who hired him. By contrast, the system that the Lord has set up and uses in the Church is the same system that He has used from the beginning.

Being a Bishop or a Stake President is a big job and I wouldn't want to exchange places with either of them. I served as a Bishop's Counselor, as well as a Ward Clerk and one can see a lot more from there than they can from a seat in the congregation.

Yes, my understanding is that the word "Ward" was used to describe a political subdivision in cities in England. (And perhaps others). Since members of the Church at that time lived in those various subdivisions, a member might say that they lived in a given "ward", since others probably knew where it was. The use of the word "ward" seems to have been brought to the U.S. with the English saints and then slowly lost it's use as a political subdivision, which are called "districts" or "precincts" now. But it still applied to a group of members in a given location. I remember when I was a kid people mentioned the county they lived in, instead of the town like they do now. This serves the Church well since the idea is to keep the wards relatively small so that all members have a given responsibility in making the ward organization function properly. A LDS member should attend the ward organization in which they reside. That's where one's member record is sent and that's where one's Bishop is, his/her home teachers and visiting teachers are assigned from, and his/her Priesthood/Relief Society leaders are.

I have not posted here long and am really just begining to find my way around, but I just realized something. Evidently there are a number of young people here from what I seem to detect from their posts. If so, this means that their expierence in the Gospel is limited, and that they haven't yet had the time to fully develop their testimony. This would explain the doubt and lack of understanding that seems be displayed. This is to be expected. No one knows everything overnight and one should not beat themselves up over that. Give yourselves some time. I am seventy five years old. (No gasps, please). Starting in about 1961 I studied and prayed for two full years until I could not resist the Spirit any longer and was baptized along with my wife. That was in 1963. We were in our thirties then and had three small children. I live in Southeast Texas, and back then the nearest Temple to us was in Arizona. Three years after we joined the Church we had saved enough to make a Temple trip where we had our marriage sealed and then had our three little ones sealed to us. We have been married for 53 years. Some wisdom has come with those years (along with 5 great grand kids) and every day I express my gratitude to the Lord for keeping His promise. I would encourage each young person here to do your best to follow the counsel of the Prophet, even if you don't fully understand all of the finer points. You do that by exercising your faith, and as you know, faith is the first principle of the gospel. One thing I would recall when I would have to take something on faith, is Adam's expierence. At one point God commanded Adam to build an alter, periodically choose an unblemished lamb from his flock, and slay it on the alter, which he did. Then one day an angel appeared to Adam and asked him if he knew why he had been asked to do that. Adam said, "I know not, save the Lord commanded it". Adam did not fully understand why he had been asked to perform the sacrifice, but, acting in faith, he did it. At this point the angel explained to Adam that the Lamb represented Christ, who was the Lamb of God, and who would come in the future to provide an atoning sacrifice for all. I always recalled Adam's expierence when I would run across something that I may not have fully understood, because I knew that the reason would follow sooner or later and then I would better understand it. I hope we can all remember that Adam obeyed the Lord, even when he did not have a complete understanding and had to exercise his faith, and that we can all try to do the same.