Hemisphere

Funny enough, I had the most and best support in my faith from non- members. Well I didn´t go through that for too long as I went through them and then I established a firm foundation. Funny enough is that some of those clowns left the church themselves ( and no, I wasn´t involved ;-) )

Well, that one was actually easy. Church in Germany has the flaw of bringing along the German need for status. So convert is often and most considered a member second class, while inborn members are "church nobility". At least that is what they would like to believe. And someone who is excited about the faith in a very open manner would destroy their precious status quo in their social sandbox within the church hierarchy. I just never stooped to that level, which makes me very unpopular. But then again, faith is not a contest about who likes you most. The coin that buys you into the heaven is a good heart and the love for your neighbor. (If you wanna be popular, be a victim on American idol, I would say)

While I certainly never grew up an dated in a church environment I can see the blessing of the Lord in this for you. As for me, I am not radiating at all. I am a flawed sinner. I am a scoundrel and a mean dog =) I do love to polarize and I make a poor example but I try my best to be somewhat of a decent person. Growing up in a catholic environment one gets disillusioned about too much foreign tongue into my ear and mind. The type of person like me, lives on the sufferance of the Lords patience ( and my wives ). I can only try to do right while remaining level headed. That is how my wife found pleasure in me ( beats me still, why ).

Dear Carborendum. I can not possibly fathom what it must have been like to grow up like this where your faith is being ridiculed and tested but I do salute you to look for answers and find the Lord's answer from different sources. When I was baptized, I was finding the strongest opposition actually within the church and not from without. Curious thing, really. But then again, I did say that I have a covenant with the Lord and not with the people. Hence me still being here ( plus it is the best way to dismay the people that wanted to run me out in a very unsavory and unchristian yet incompetent manner ) As for the Opposition in question... they never made a strong enough case and their salesman ship is atrocious while their whining about their suffered ( and often perceived ) slights is cheap acting or just that... whining. I can assure you my pillar of strength in my faith is the privilege and duty as a priesthood holder to help prepare the Lords Kingdom. Do not despair and take heart that everything good you pass along in his name, is to his pleasing and you are an extension of his love to others. Est Deus in nobis; agitante callescimus illo. : The Lord is within us; he is the fire that lights us. It is a proverb that I hold dear. I would love to share it with you.

I can very well live with that though I would never manage to bring matters of faith into the field of entertainment. If you can balance that, kudos for you. As for expressing my personal opinion, which I did and a lot people took offense to it, it would be prudent to also accept the fact that some people may not agree ( just like me ) with your entertaining free time activity. I am not gonna lie, do actually consider it a waste of time but I am glad I get to know different view points on the matter. However, everything will happen in the Lords good own timetable and I for one prioritize the ease of wanting people by something they can grasp and see as words can not be eaten and a foreign text can mean nothing to them whereas comforting a person with deeds and presence is a surefire way to bring him closer to the Lord. I will do squat telling you what each and everyone ought to be doing with your time and what not. However I reserve my opinions and regard this as an american eccentricity that finds little purchase outside the US. If one of you takes offense, accept my apologies but it remains a personal opinion and certainly, this is the internet where things should be taken lightly for what it is: some strangers opinion which you can elect to ignore, like or comment on.

It is well to know the scriptures but scriptures and doctrine only get you so far. It is better to carry the gospel in your heart than on your tongue.

@ mordorbound I could almost perceive this as mockery on your part, to give a title that drips with distaste. If you look up, I said if you feel to stand up for yourself and your faith, by all means however from the apologetic PERSONAL view ( again, see above ) out of experience, engaging into a meaningless verbal campaign to rectify a falsehood or slight, breeds the opposite of a desired effect and often enough provides people with ammunition against you. just as you are doing right now. I displayed a personal view. I also said, I for one don´t need one because I rather do charity and argument through those means for my faith and conviction. I know it is a very beloved american notion that I am offending here, the tradition to defend what is your out of the top of your lungs. but your audience changed and the purpose of statement is not anymore a mutual exchange to found common ground. Arguments are made to deliberately hurt or ridicule people with it to serve the mundane purpose of petty amusement. So why stoop to level and distract yourself from the actual rewarding deeds that the Lord loves. I don´t know what you know about the difference in hardships of being a member of our faith in another country is, but I can assure you, what you perceive as sound and natural can else lead to negative effects or in some countries even into trouble. The american way of speaking out is not everyone elses solution. So if you give me a title rather call me Chief Skeptic and the part time devils advocate. The only one I champion for is the Lord and his cause and he doesn´t make an electronic medium or youtube channel a requirement to do his bidding.

I am not American but I do admire and respect your civic virtue and your determination to serve your homeland, regardless what you were facing. I can only gingerly fathom what it must have been like to be the exception of having served twice in a secular and also in a spiritual way and making great sacrifices while being disregarded at home. Know this, I have nothing but respect as I can accept this more than a missionary who simply goes because it is to him a bothersome tradition for a rite of passage. You have my admiration and my appreciation to be just that: a good man and a responsible citizen to your homelands.

that would preclude that the single ward would be welcoming and loving and if you are already not really in the fray there ... what good is it then ?

My apologies.Typing and sitting in a shakey bus is quite a challenge. Meant to say silent deeds make a stronger case.

Remain silent and honour the lord with your deeds. To be exact, which in my opinion is more productice. And so what, false information was around since the foundation and we outlived them all. And no, not taking it personal it takes a bit more for that in order to happen. I still consider this a friend discourse. Apologists are not needed. Live the gosple and be a shining example. It will be sufficient for others to see and ask the source when it matters.

You think ? You are talking about raising your voices against 8njust comments and other thongs throw at the church. I am making a po7nt that silent derds are a szeobger advocation for a cause

well, congratulations . you can google. and what point have you proven now, save for the intention of potentially embarassing me (which i am not, to err is human ) because I didnt have my facts straight =) still doesn´t change the fact that church culture is different from what comes out of the US and may not align with the perceptipns and feelings of members elsewhere. I certainly hope that nobody thinks that everything is so starspangled awesome that people are not allowed to have a different opinion

I do believe that I said it elsewhere but it is worth mentiioning it. Dating in the Church is like petting a rabid shark, somethimes it would actually be a sounder idea to do just that. Certainly from a demographic point of view there is an abundance of sisters towards Priesthood holders and therefore it is either competitive or highly limited in choice. I do get the desire that a templeworthy man with a job and a good heart is a desired partner. However, it is funn how good man are falling through the cracks being judged for what they are not, despite being good companiions and partner. Some are converts and therefore were not able to go on a mission. If you aren´t an RM the difficulty increases to get notice. If you are in the process of obtaining a temple recommend it is not enough. If you are faithful but have to bring your life and affairs into order to achieve worthiness, it will not be enough . It will never be enough and therefore I do give blame to the objectifcation that is being taught in young women and young mmen that overlook that a good person may have not done and have the things to achieve a certain ideal. Added to that, you find this soulmate nonsense where people are reduced to the desired traits and dropped whenn they are not pressed into that mold. Now to be fair, I do believe that some RM's are outright pigs, wanting a woman they can show off around as a trophy, chaining her to a stove and expecting her churn out babies. and wallowing in the attention they have as desired object for being RM being enabled to fool around and not going to commit anything. Often you find some of them to be spoiled little princes, that consider their mission as some sort of Roadtrip where they cash in on their status and take silly pictures while thinking that this "rite of passage" is required of them before they get either a grant or a car of some other form of materialistic recompense. One can question the conviction and mindset of such an RM annd ponder if that is something worth pursuing. ( I am going out here and not saying that every RM is like that but there is a good number that can match that profile) . A temple recommend does not indicate character for everyone one can lie at his interview and a priesthoodholder may just be that, in name only. There is good men and women out there that get overlooked because Looks go before substance, expectation before what is there already ( which is good ) and the desire for status before a good heart ( not every one can be the bishops or stake presidents boy. and not every sister is an athletic supermmodel that will busy herself at byu aiming for the mrs degree, dropping education the moment she has been dragged to a model) if you but open your eyes, I am sure you won´t have to wait too long because prayers are a good guidance but the Lord certainly not a slot machine where you throw in a prayer like a coin. Dating in the church is artificially complicated and attrocious in places where the choices are limited and people have tiime to become conceited without noticing when eyeballing someone who is interested in you. If this post offends you, by all means! be outraged but rest assured that I, being out of the game have a spouse that understood all these things and loves for what I am and not for what I am not. I can tell you, that flirt to convert may even be the better chance to find a spouse because you have someone who does not pester you with stereotypes and prejudices. I can also say, that a good partner needs to be worked for, they don´t fall into your lap

are you meassuring "best" in terms of sales or rather content ? it is a rather subjective question. certainnly you will find me in the Appleseed, Ghost in the Shell, Dominion Tank Police and Gunsmith Cats corner, sprinkled with Magic Knight rayeearth and with a good doese of Eden from Hiroki Endo. Maybe even throw in some x1999 However I can guarantee you that from a church point of view this are highly inappropriate but from a human perspective offer a lot of things to think about. now you have done it gator, you made me feel old again =P

I enjoy a healthy argument and it is hard to resist playing devils advocate. As for dietrich Bonhoefer, let me raise the stakes with a better one. "Be wary of the man thst does evil but be frightful of a good man who does nothing" I would like to invite you to let this sit for a moment and reflect on the difference. I also would line to add a little anectdote from my family in 1943. We had a home stead in Saxony Anhalt. My grandpa had been drafted away from the fighter plane production line and was at the front. My family wirness trains full of people and pretty much by then it was already felt that these people were not coming back. One night a jewish family shows up at our doorstep and begs for refuge. As good christians they receive it. It was dangerous to shelter them but it was done anyway. The family wanted to move on but had to leave thibgs behind. Including a jewels case which they asked us to keep for them until the war. Fyi. My family still has it and is waiting. My point being, if he would have done as you lobbied for, they would have found themselves on the very trains. But in doing things in silence, lives could be saved. As for the missionaries, there is a distinct difference. They, unlike the market criers are called emmissaries which serve the people in the Lords name. An argument which will not result agreement can cause contention and from there a conflict and escalate. The Lord hates contention and the causers of it. Apologist arguments seldomly kindles love and often enough caters more to the ego, rather than passing on love as the Lord wants it. I would rather a quiet dignified helper. And if i want to really miscontrue this hard, one could day yoj lobby for argument while conveying that focusing on charity is secondary to speaking out and quarrel.

First of all, since when did recently an outcry change anything in those corrupt governments lately. Second. I am German. that means I live in the country with largest density of members. Culture wise it differs to great deal. apologists are fanatical market criers that nobody takes serious because their presentation sucks and the arguments are petty. Or if skillful will be dragged down to the level of petulance And again, the church does not just consists of white European and American people. And again, it is pure conjecture that silence is admittance in so many cultures that are not western. In fact, it is actually quite arrogant to believe that things handled in the US or EUrope for that matter are used elsewhere to the same extend. You wanna defend faith, go help the poor and anyone in need of charity to the glory of his grace our Lord, with our deeds we honor him. Yeah well, I personally think it should be holiday where we flog bankers. It certainly would do us good. But still an exceptional deed for he did not enter into any other conflicts in violence but with dignified quiet grace. I think time is better spent dispersing charity amongst the needy . You wanna defend doctrine, live it and show it and don´t deal with time wasters.

sure, I can go with your statement, if we talk church in the US and if you ignore that people elsewhere in the church not being part of the american exceptionalism have different challenges which are not made easy with your precious apologists. Nobody says anything about accepting them, but you conjecture just because nothing is said that people accept those arguments. in other parts of the world ignoring such a thing has a bigger impact than the usual american ways of handling it. remember that the majority of members do live outside the US and that those apologists neither relate to the rest of us or know whats going on else where, not helping us in the cause. As for the "attacks" you really think the Lord would have given two cents about those clowns ? no, he would proceeded with meaningful tasks. So I beg to remind that you people in the US tend to make very American decisions for a "WORLD " wide church, which does neither engender good will nor does it really help.

by all means. defend them for yourself but do not presume that I need someone for it. As for knowing it to be true it is one thing but I don´t believe screaming at the top of my lungs is the way. my greek ain´t so great so I am gonna stick with latin " Acta, non verba" deeds speak louder and I don´t need youtube jockey souring it up for the rest that do it differently. I believe faith speaks best and loudest by not even dignifying critics with an argument. SImply be christlike. that is all there is to it.

well I do, and you and I just differ in the perception. And I don´t deem apologist defenders. They are a nuisance and frankly the only defenders of faith are called. I really actually resent the notion that you think I do not know and that apparently should not dislike them. They don´t speak for and a religion that needs to be excused or apologized for ( a lot ) implies that there is a lot of screw up. as for the Greek meaning which you so graciously provide ... I don´t see it that way, I don´t need one, I can stand for it my self perfectly fine. neither do I share or have to share their position either. I maintain, someone who keeps excusing, justifying things or even over and over doesn´t reinforce the position nor does he necessarily speak for me or others. Again, nothing good comes of it engaging and wasting so much time and effort into this... silence is golden and deeds speak louder because words are wind. As for the attackers, let them. They will see their erroneous ways at the end of days. No need to redirect conviction and effort from where it is actually needed

yeah, and they are not worth a lot if made constantly without meaning or defending blindly a cause which may under circumstances not even be just.

my apologies.

Fact is though that Trump can play on the tribulations and frustation of the people who have no say in their own country. Just mentioning "super delegates" what better way to spit the people in the face. nonetheless what everyone has in common that they will support the killings of palastinians in israel or the very least keep quiet which is even almost worse

Amen Brother, this world needs a reset. I would love to get my gear beforehand though =)

actually, what makes me wonder as someone who spend a good time in the US but being European is, why do you actually all content with crooks and proven liars and cheaters ? I mean one of them is the very epitome of corruption in congress by making darling deals and the other one is a person that wantonly uses the privileges to her own advantage, enriching herself and lining her pockets while mocking the law. And neither actually ever did a days work in their life that would do your confidence in them justice. Just saying along with the congressmen and senators actually almost never doing a days work in their life more receptive to corporation than their voters ... wouldn´t it be better to clean and correct your systems. Heavens we EU have a desperate need for it as well. "CLUMP" is a choice between pest and cholera. so ... it makes one wonder what will come of it. I for one think that you guys gonna have another war on your hands and if DC is stupid enough with the Chinese or the Russians involving a lot of people not fancying a war... so, your choice affects everyone.