circusboy01

Has anybody here read Three Degrees of Glory by Melvin Ballard? I'm reading it now, and it's cleared up some confusion for me. Great book. Brother Ray

Your first paragraph is exactly what I believe. To me paying on the net is to nickel, and dime your tithe. They get a Temple Recommend because the Bishop takes them at their word that they are a full tithe payer. Perhaps if he knew the nickle and dime method they use for paying their tithe. He might not give them a recommend, and rightly so. Brother Ray

Everyone: The way you all choose to pay tithing is confusing to me. I was taught that first you pay your tithe ( on the gross) Period. What's left is used for living expenses, paying bills, savings etc. If I'm wrong. I thank you all for pointing that out. I'm really going to have to talk to Heavenly Father, and my Bishop about it. Brother Ray

They might help. Or it might be that your mouth gets so hot you forget about your fever. ;0) Brother Ray.

You misread my post. I did not accuse anyone of sending me a nasty post. I simply asked everyone not to, after the reading the post I had just written.. Okay I understand the thing about how if you feel you have paid a full tithe you have, and you're all right. Tithing, however you choose to pay it, is between you and Heavenly Father. But I still feel that a true honest tithe must be paid on the gross, and I will continue to pay on the gross. until I hear a General Authority, or a Member of the First Presidency, say different Brother Ray

I personally feel that if I'm not paying on the gross' I'm stealing from Heavenly Father. But that's just me. I'm ot pointing a finger at those who pay on the Net. Claiming that they are stealing from Heavenly Father. So p[lease. No nasty posts to me. I'm going to set an appointment with my Bishop for a Temple recommend .I think I will talk to him, and the Stake President. About what would be considered a full tithe. If it turns out that I'm paying too much. I'll probably continue to pay too much. I know I'm probably oing to hear from somebody saying that there is no such thing as paying too much tithe. Not enough. Yes But too much no, and I agree. Brother Ray ps. I'm spending so much time getting rid of extra letters in my words. That I think I'm going to dig out The old Dragon naturally speaking. Brother Ray

I just felt that the host of Where are they now was disrespectful. to both cyndy Lauper and Gene Pitney. Probably because I liked them both,and I had been a Gene Pitney fan since the 60s Brother Ray

Blue Angels was the group she was with when she did I'm gonna be strong? Before her solo career? I didn't knopw that. I remember now that octive thing was what they were tal;king aboput I agree with you about Madonna VS. Lauper The Octive thing is what I heard abpout her, Years ago. Brother Ray

He sure is,and he knows nothing about the church. He never talks about how much we have grown. How we have always helped disasters victoms. Without bragging about it on TV Because if we want the admiration of the TV audience.That is our reward. I'm sure we would all rather wait, and get a Heavenly reward instead. Brother Ray

Oh. I just looked at who laughed out load.And it wasn't me . So I'm hoping that makes everything Okay between us. Brother Ray

If I laughed at your post, it was purely by accident. I'm sorry that I hit the wrong button Please believe me I would never be that rude on purpose Brother RaY

Not a thing. I was complaining about what people who should know about music said about Cyndy Lauper and Gary Stewart. When I was finished with that rant. I started talking about the idiot ex- Mormon that was on the Bill Mahr show. I can see how it could have been confusing, and I appologize for that Brother Ray

I have always heard,since I first joined the Church, back in 1967 that Tithing was from your gross. Way back when farmers didn't have much money IOf they had 10 pigs they would give 1 pig for thithing which would be the gross. If the pig owner paid net on the pig He would have been able to deduct what he paid from the pigs feed slop, and the general cost of raising the pig. I don't think it worked that way Please don't think I'm going against what you say for argument sake. I'm just telling you what I learned when I first joined the church Now it has to be that one of us is wrong, and we should find out 'positively, which one of us is wrong. Because if I'm wrong sure want to know. Maybe we could both ask our Bishops, and a couple of our ex- bishops, and comp0are notes later. Or if you know of a better source where we could get he answers. Let me Know Brother Ray. Why do my posts always end up 3 times longer than I planne4d on? ;o) Brother Ray

I've been sick for about the last week. Chilies and fever. So I've been laying in bed thinking of some of the stupid statements people who are supposed to know about music have come up with. Here is what I think are the 2 worst. There used to be a program on vh1 or maybe mtv called where are they now They were doing a piece on Cyndy Lauper. singing the song I'm gonna be strong written and made famous years earlier by Gene Pitney The idiot hosts comment was " Boy I bet shes embarrassed by this clip." The thing is Cyndy was famous for her voice. I don't remember for sure. But I believe she was said to have perfect pitch. In other words. If it was singable she could sing it. Gene Pitney was one of the most prolific and talent singer/ songwriters the world has ever known. With hits like Half Heaven Half Heartache 24 hours from Tulsa, Town without pity, Liberty Valance, Mecca, I'm Gonna be Strong and many more. His Song Town without pity from the movie of the same name won an oscar. Heck he even wrote Hello Mary Lou for Ricky Nelson. The next one is Gary Stewart. I've got this drinking thing, Shes acting single I'm drinking double, Whisky Trip. To name just a few. The idiot credics Said he was too rock and roll to be country, and too country to be rock and roll. If you know his music you know that there is not a rock and roll note in any of his songs If you never heard him listen to him on Youtube ou know if you don't know what you're talking about you should just keep you mouth shut Okay one last rant Bill Mahr had an idiot x mormon on. These people spread more lies about Mormons than the worst non members around. He made the statement that tithe is paid on the Net. I's not. I. It's on the gross. If you are paying on the net you are not paying a full tithe. He was also calling Garments Magic Pajama's . The things Bill Mahr doesn't know about Mormons could fill a book I think we should get together and send him an email showing all the things he has wrong. Brother Ray

I just finished reading this thread by Thekabalist, and the 3 pages of replies and comments. I'll admit before I started reading I expected the forum to be people of the Jewish Faith finding flaws in the Book of Mormon. Now I will admit that I didn't understand everything that was said as thoroughly, or as deeply as others who have commented. But I was pleasantly surprised. Because, for me it is yet another testament to the truthfulness of The Book of Mormon. Brother Ray

I have since been remembering to pray a lot more often. So I don't pray in the shower nearly as often as I did when I first rejoined. But there are still times when I do Brother Ray

I had just been re baptized after being away from the church for almost 30 years. At the time I didn't think it was my place to question his answer. Brother Ray

Guess I should have said "I don't think there's anything wrong with a Friendly game on a Sunday";)

My Bishop when I first rejoined. Bishop Bird had a little poem he taught all the Primary kids. On your knees, or on your feet. never never in your seat.

If you absolutely can't get out of working on a Sunday, perhaps you might lose your job, if you don't. Then it is Okay to work Sundays. Playing in the NFL was Steve Young's job. Brother Ray

I'm pretty good at the taking a nap part. Brother Ray

My Bishop from years ago. In Palmdale Ca. George Busby, played softball on a team. He was a pitcher, and is still well known in the area, for being one of the best that has ever played the game. The rest of the team were members of our church also. They would not play on Sunday. So they forfeited all the Sunday games. Fortunately they played so well that it didn't effect their standings in the league. There is nothing wrong with a friendly game of baseball, football or what ever among friends on a Sunday. But we should refrain from playing organized sports on Sunday. Brother Ray.

I was just thinking back to when I had just been re baptized. I was having a conversation with the Elders Quorum President about not remembering to pray as often as I should. I told him that one of the places I did remember to pray was in the shower. I don't remember his exact words. But, the point he made was that it is disrespectful to pray to Heavenly Father while you are naked. Was he right? Because it seems to me that if Heavenly Father did not want us talking to Him while we were naked. the first thing He would have done after he created Adam would have been to have him put on something to cover his nakedness. What does everybody else think. Off subject: Whenever I refer to Heavenly Father as He or Him I always use capital H. Is this correct? Brother Ray

This has something to do with Garment wearing? Brother Ray