Old Tex

Rachael, Let's discuss the two things you have asked about above. I am assuming that you differ with the Church leaders on the subject of abortion and gay marriage. First, no one says that ALL LDS members MUST agree with EVERYTHING the Church teaches. That comes by one gaining a testimony a little at a time. Line upon line, precept upon precept. And this happens only if we study and pray about what we wish to understand. What about all of the rest of the teachings of the Church? How do you feel about resurrection? What about eternal marriage and the teaching that families can be together forever? Do you believe in the "premortal" existence of yourself and others? How many in the premortal world do you figure have the promise of coming to the earth to receive a mortal body and be "tested" like you and I did? I think all of them. I think that the time of the Second Coming depends a lot on all of Heavenly Father's spirit children getting their chance at mortality. Who do you suppose opposes this? Right, the same one who has opposed the plan of salvation from the very beginning. The more births that are aborted, the more I think that Satan thinks that his judgment can be delayed. So who's cause is being helped by blocking these spirits from being born? Next, you mentioned gay marriage. What are two things that can be learned from reading the story of Adam and Eve? I see at least two. One is....God married them and intended for them to stay married. And two....God told them to multiply (have children) and fill the earth. They were to be co-creators with God. They (and their descendants) were to provide mortal bodies for all those spirit children of God, which included you and I at that point. Marriage was designed and instituted by God so He could fulfill His promise to His spirit children in that a way would be provided for them to become more like Him. History seems to indicate that this principle of marriage was preverted, and when homosexuality became so rampant, that the Lord steped in Himself and "cleaned house". If this preversion of the Lord's directive again begins to prevent His will from being done, we might give some thought to what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah. Not because "God hates fags", as one small church in Kansas says, but because the homosexual lifestyle is at odds with the Plan of Salvation God has laid out for His children. My suggestion for you is to continue to read, ask questions, study, and pray. Continue to learn the principles of the restored gospel and at some point, when you begin to see the big picture, these things will look clearer to you. At that point you will begin to understand for yourself.

PC, I'm trying to remember where a LDS member is asked if they "sustain the church as the one true church". My expierence has been to be asked if I can sustain a member in a new or existing calling. I can recall only once when I could not, and I raised my hand in opposition when asked. If a LDS member cannot sustain (and that means to support an individual in their calling) then they should either raise their hand in opposition, or short of that, at least not raise it in favor of sustaining the individual if they feel that they cannot do so. One should be honest with oneself.

I guess that you could tell them that you have been "saved", and now it's your exaltation that you are working on.

I have the promise of being "saved" from temporal death because of Christ's resurrection, although it has not come to pass for me yet. It will come purely by the grace of God with no effort on my part. I had no responsibility for the action of Adam which resulted in my death, and I take no credit for my salvation (resurrection) from death. I also know that a way has been provided for me to achieve glory above and beyond my resurrection, depending in a good measure on my following the teachings of Christ. One will not be admitted into any degree of glory if they cannot live by the principles of that degree of glory. Striving to be obedient to those principles in this life helps to incorporate them into one's "character" and becomes part of them. I think that some who wrongly accuse LDS of "works" when they are, in fact, only following the council of Christ, are seriously short changing themselves.

I with you on this, Missy. Early voting starts tomorrow (Oct 20th) here in Texas and I'm going to go vote and then turn off the TV until someone is chosen.

I've never greatly disagreed with the John Birch Society, but I have disagreed with some of it's members. Many years ago when I was in a little Branch in Texas, two of the members joined the Birch Society and began to tell the other members how the Birch Society supported the Church and it's teaching. After a period of time this got to the point that it caused a division in the members of the Branch. Many, including me, felt that the Branch should not be used to promote the Birch Society in the area, and it was coming close to that. Finally, it tore up the Branch. Some folks went inactive and those the missionaries were teaching dropped out. That is the kind of situation that the Church is preventing by staying away from various political groups and I whole heartedly agree. I've seen first hand what can happen if it don't. We, as members, are charged to bring folks to Christ, not to bring them to some particular political point of view. Your statement above is exactly the statement that was used by these two Birch members who tore up my little Branch many years ago.

PC, Thanks for the link to the JoD. I got caught up reading and spent several hours there. I bookmarked the site for next time. Old Tex

A few years ago I remember that the Church requested that members remove all individually generated web sites relating to Church information. This was just prior to the official Church sites and the ward and stake sites that were made by the Church. I don't know if something different came out on the subject since then or not.

Ah-So! Did you know when I started high school there was no such thing as television or air conditioning?

Jenda, You count yourself as RLDS. A couple of years ago the RLDS Church broke up, the majority forming into a new organization called The Community of Christ. Not everyone changed over and some of the more isolated RLDS congregations choose to retain their RLDS status. I was just wondering if you were part of one of the smaller RLDS groups who did not go with the larger part of the RLDS congregations who changed their name to the Community of Christ?

I think it is also known as the "Church of Christ" and was originally started by Alexander Campbell. Sometimes also called the Campbellites. Campbell was evidently a pretty firey preacher. He is reported to have preached a number of untrue and slanderous sermons against Joseph Smith.

First, Baptist is spelled with a "p", not a "b". (Common mistake). As a youth I was taken to meetings of the "Primitive Baptist", (fundimentalists), then attended Southern Baptists as an adult. In my mid-thirties I became aware of the existence of the LDS Church. My wife and I studied and prayed about it for two years. Then in the 1960s we joined and have been very grateful ever since for the missionaries who put so much of their effort toward helping us through our investigation and conversion. The Lord certainly knew what He was doing when the organized the missionary sytem like it is.

The Church is finishing new Chapels on the average of one a day worldwide now and still we are crowded. That's the price of rapid growth. We have three wards meeting in our building right now. One, a Spanish speaking Ward, just moved out and into their own building a month ago. This leaves the current three, one starts at 9am, one at 11am, and mine, at 1pm. I like the time of the ward I'm in, because I don't sleep well at night and am not a "morning person". On January first all wards in our building will rotate and we will go to the 9am time slot. It won't be easy for me, but I have time to try to prepare for it.

When my wife and I first attended an LDS Sunday service, we went about four or five times before we realized that there was no collection plate being passed. And, like you, I noticed the lack of a "Hellfire and Brimstone" preacher. About the hymns, I realized that many of them were prayers set to music. They set the proper spirit for a worship service where true reverent and thoughtful individual worship is done, as they should. The lives of my family have been very blessed since visiting that LDS ward over forty years ago.

Anyone moving into a new town is going to have several things to consider, schools, public services, tax rates, cost of housing, etc. For an LDS family, Ward location will be a factor, but I see no need in not choosing the location that one is the most satisfied with.

LDS folks do not attend Sacrament Meetings to be entertained like some others seem to do. We go to partake of the Sacrament and renew our baptismal covenants. A speaker with a truly good delivery is a "bonus".:) Each of us can become better speakers by becoming familiar with some basic principles of public speaking and asking for the Holy Ghost to assist us.

------------------------------------------------------------------------ One thing that makes it easier to understand is to remember who God is usually speaking to (or about) in the Old Testament. Here He is referring to the House of Israel with whom He has a covenant. He is reminding them that according to the covenant that He has with them that He is their God and that their covenant is with Him and Him only. No other God exists as far as they are concerned. This is a statement specifically directed at those with whom He has a covenant and is not meant to be a dialog concerning those eternal individuals who may dwell in the eternal realms, no matter how many there may be. I find that many times non LDS folks can't see things like LDS do because they try to understand LDS while holding to their own understanding of their sources. One must be able to put their own view in "neutral" long enough to be able to see through LDS understanding and then it will become appearent to them. I hope this comes out in a readable format..............I'm not familiar with posting on this site.

I would suggest not to let your uncle get you in the middle on this. Tell him that if he wants to know, to talk to your husband about it since it was your husband who told him in the first place. Sounds like your husband is playing dumb. No one is put on probation or disfellowshipped by a Bishop without a good understanding of why.

I think you are right. Way back in the cobwebby part of my mind there seems to be something there about in about 1000 AD it was feared that Mary Magdalen was getting a little too popular among the Catholics and was giving some competition to the virgin Mary, so one of the Popes wrongly declared her a prostitute. I think the present Pope has recently removed that "status" from her. Seems to me that she would have grounds for a liabel suit.

Do you really need to tell your uncle anything? And this really has nothing to do with Peter. It has to do with you and your husband, and from the expierence of some who have been put on probation or been disfellowshipped, the fewer people that know, the better off both you and he will be when things start getting better again. I am courious if you were present when your husband was told this. From what you said it sounds like you were not. You said that you and your husband were having some "issues". This makes me think that these "issues" were the subject of his conversation with the Bishop and the Bishop is trying to help him start a repentence process to get some problems worked out that you may not know about. A Bishop is a common judge in Israel and his responsibility is to assist your husband in overcoming whatever his problem is. I have found that members who have had serious problems and have overcome them with the aid of a good Bishop are usually much stronger in the future. Just stick by him, keep things between you and him, and if he follows the advice of your Bishop, things will work out for both of you. The Bishop is in your corner. It's old Lucifer that's the enemy.

LDS do not exclude or segrate people on any basis. All are welcome to join and all are encouraged to live their lives so they will be worthy to enter the Temples of the Lord and and enter into higher covenants with Him. I have been an LDS member for 45 years of my adult life. I am a convert. Your statement above indicates to me that you do not understand what Temples are for or what work goes on in them. In reality, these Temples you speak of are the best chance for the salvation of multitudes of those "poorest of the poor" that you say that you are concerned for. You condemn something of which you have no knowledge. As far as the Church being divided over polygamy, here again you have it wrong. The practice of plural marriage in the Church was discontinued over 100 years ago. Anyone practicing plural marriage today is excommunicated from the Church. That mean completely cut off. There are several groups made up of people who choose to practice plural marriage, but they have no connection to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I think you knew that when you asked your question. I hope that you got some answers that are helpful, but I think you pretty well had your mind already made up before you asked your questions.

OK. I give up. I finally got past the need for a new password to get in and I've been everywhere looking for where the Private Messages are hidden. I did find a list of features burried somewhere that said private messages, but then it wanted another password. I was never able to give it what it wanted. I have clicked on all the new little colored blocks at the top of the page, as well as everything else that looks like a menu of some sort, but I'm going in circles. I'll appreciate help from anyone who can give it. Also, how does one make contact with a mod? I'm turning blue.

Well I finally figured out how to get here. I had to go through the "change password" system to get here. It appears that the Private Messages did not transfer. I was in communications with someone when the lights went out. Can someone give me a path to the Prvate Messages here?

I can't figure a stake president making such a statement. Are you sure that you understood him correctly. If this bothers you, you should ask him for a clearification the next time you see him. Better yet, get his phone number and give him a call.

What do you mean by "ancient dust?" How is ancient dust, which you say is worthless, any different from contemporary dust, which is also a worthless? In other words, is the "ancient dust" Adam was created from any different than the contemporary dust we see today? If that answer is yes, what properties of the "ancient dust" are different? Elphaba Perhaps you misread his post. I see nothing in his post about "ancient dust". I see a sentence that said, in effect, that dust, in ancient times, was held as having little value.