The Folk Prophet

These two statements are not mutually exclusive. More accurate would be -- Excommunication is a punitive tool used to help someone come to repentance.

By not being as active as you could, you are kind of advertising that you have neither the time nor the inclination for a calling. Most callings take some sort of time commitment. I would suggest you reactivate yourself and become more involved. As anatess suggested in her excellent post, you can volunteer for something or ask your bishop for a calling--letting him know what sort of calling you are willing and able to do.
 
I hope you read this post in the kindness it is meant and it does not sound too accusatory. I tried to be careful in my wording, Wishing you the best. :)

Per Palerider's suggestion I'm chiming in.
I'm going with shoi-buht.

Per Palerider's suggestion I'm chiming in.
I'm going with shoi-buht.

And I haven't even participated in that one. 

doesn't that pretty well describe reality tv...for the most part?

doesn't that pretty well describe reality tv...for the most part?

Everything is a privilege when your 18 and living at home with your parents. Phone, computer, shelter, food.  You're 18. Get a job! :)

I disagree with this. Pay your tithing first, foremost, and in full, every month. Period.

I think it useful to quote the preceding verses in Malachi 3 as well
 
8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
 
9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.
 
We should be thinking of not paying a full tithing as robbing God. He asks for 10%. Only paying 5% is robbing Him of 5%. Should we expect Him to bless us for robbing Him?
 
It's worth consideration.

I just have to jump in here.  You clearly don't understand how tithing works:
 
Malachi 3:10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
 
fwiw - My parents struggled to make ends meet for the first 25 years of their marriage but they were always full tithe payers. Their tithing didn't change the financial situation at the time but all of us stayed pretty healthy, there was always work for my dad, a deer at every hunt, etc.  My husband and I have also seen the blessings of making tithing a priority so I'd encourage you to reconsider your misguided plan and test the above scripture for yourself.

I agree 100%. Thank you. 
 
edit: mind you, I didn't say anything until the bishop had recommended the action, because it would be inappropriate to teach this as a course for everyone. But certainly it is appropriate for some. Like someone who's been inactive for 10 years or so. No one would expect them to pay back that 10 years of tithing before they were considered a full tithe payer. No. Come back to church, and start paying tithing.
 
Moreover, it should be added, a declaration of "full" at tithing settlement is a declaration for the year. If someone started paying tithing in Dec on their income, it would be inaccurate and inappropriate to declare oneself a full tithe payer no matter the current commitment moving forward.
 
From a moral/worthy stand point, it's somewhat like any repentance. How long do we have to go without any given sin before we're considered clean? A day? A week? A year? Ten years? Ultimately, that is between us, our bishops who have the keys, and God.
 
As far as a literal declaration for the year...it's pretty black and white. You either paid 10% or you didn't.

http://www.sixteensmallstones.org/getting-it-wrong-how-not-to-save-lds-youth-in-a-secular-age/
 
Brilliant article
 
I particularly love:
 
"The more fundamental problem is that often our youth, not to mention many adults, lack the kind of nuanced approach to information that they require to be able to evaluate the facts in distinction to the narratives about the facts. They have been conditioned by mass media, public schools, and often academics themselves to accept uncritically any narrative that carries the label “scholarly consensus” or “science” at face value. For them, “science” is functionally little more than an appeal to a culturally acceptable authority which they are expected to accept largely on blind faith."

How the manager went about firing. I've only just now read a couple of articles and such about it, but that much is obvious to me.

I'm not saying whether or not I agree but whenever I see this line of thinking, I always hope people who read this later don't use it as an excuse to not do everything they can to pay 10% 100% of the time.  Just throwing that out there.

The Book of Mormon verifies the Bible. That's one of it's primary purposes.

For my purposes, "divine" means "from God". The actual mode of delivery is irrelevant, and in any case probably varies between individuals.
  
I agree. Those most certainly were divine revelations.
  
I could hardly disagree more. Anything that goes through human beings has the potential for "human error", even Joseph Smith's first vision. Witness Lehi's prophetic dream, where he failed to notice that the water was filthy and represented the evils of the world. Nephi had to fill in that little detail. But that doesn't make Lehi's dream any less divine.

I think there is an expectation, especially on the part of outsiders who look at the Church, that a prophet stands up and either prophesies some future event or gives some "Thus saith the Lord" commandments.  This limited understanding comes because they are unschooled in the way the Spirit works.  They often are familiar with getting answers to their own prayers, but they don't think of that as revelation--but it certainly is.  When God communicates, it is revelation.  Sometimes it's a strong feeling that personalizes a passage of scripture during a time of spiritual need.  Sometimes it's a flash of inspiration that moves you to action.  Sometimes it's a prompting that warns you of danger or trouble.  
 
All of those things are revelation, just as much as hearing the voice of God or seeing a vision, although they are not as dramatic.  Dreams can also be revelatory.  Sometimes God speaks through a friend or a pastoral figure, which is just as effective as sending an angel.
 
Thus revelation is constantly at work in all the councils of the Church, including ward councils, priesthood executive committees, Relief Society presidency meetings, Deacon's quorum meetings, etc.  The Spirit may guide a Sunday School teacher as she prepares her lesson or prompts a youth to call and invite a friend to an activity.  
 
At the top levels of the Church, General Conference talks are often a way revelation and inspiration is imparted to the Church.  In our time, it seems that the Spirit works very subtly.  I think of President Hinckley's talk from October 1998 as a prophetic warning which was reiterated again in October 2001.  He didn't come out and say that the economy was going to crash, but those who were in-tune heard the warning and acted upon it.  There were several talks in the most recent conference that were similar in nature.  This subtle nature of revelation was mentioned in the New Testament, in Luke 17.  Jesus explained:
 
20 ¶And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
 As a young missionary in France, I saw that the French version of this scripture adds new understanding of it's meaning.  It says, roughly translated, that the kingdom doesn't come in a manner that is "striking to the eyes" (frappant aux yeux.)  Jesus didn't tell the Pharisees that the kingdom was within them. The French uses the preposition parmi, which means among or amidst.  He told them that the kingdom of God is subtle and that it was in their midst, but they couldn't see it.   That's the way revelation often works.  A person who lives by the Spirit can discern it.  Those who don't can't.  They go looking for prophets and prophecy based on a false notion of those things and they miss it when it's right in front of their eyes.

Interesting, I wasn't aware of the kerfluffle. How things happened is absolutely appalling.

For a moment while reading the article I was bracing for a conclusion I disagreed with, but it never came. I was pleasantly surprised to find agreement. Largely because it encourages 'facts' and a paradigm, with a healthy amount of critical thinking, while still relying on #1 
A different approach might be taken for some students of philosophy who can't trust #1 let alone their own existence. [or maybe not]

http://www.sixteensmallstones.org/getting-it-wrong-how-not-to-save-lds-youth-in-a-secular-age/
 
Brilliant article
 
I particularly love:
 
"The more fundamental problem is that often our youth, not to mention many adults, lack the kind of nuanced approach to information that they require to be able to evaluate the facts in distinction to the narratives about the facts. They have been conditioned by mass media, public schools, and often academics themselves to accept uncritically any narrative that carries the label “scholarly consensus” or “science” at face value. For them, “science” is functionally little more than an appeal to a culturally acceptable authority which they are expected to accept largely on blind faith."

The Book of Mormon verifies the Bible. That's one of it's primary purposes.

The Book of Mormon verifies the Bible. That's one of it's primary purposes.

My posts often elicit emotional responses.
 
Who knew I was such a great poet!
 

For what it's worth, my opinion (which many hold as not worth much...but...):
 
No and no.
 
She conveys meaning (which has little value in and of itself (imo)). Creative though? I don't think so.

My posts often elicit emotional responses.
 
Who knew I was such a great poet!