askandanswer

1. I know that my Redeemer lives. What comfort this sweet sentence gives! He lives, he lives, who once was dead. He lives, my ever-living Head. He lives to bless me with his love. He lives to plead for me above. He lives my hungry soul to feed. He lives to bless in time of need.

I think the above comments come closer to causing me offence than anything I have read in quite some time. I have built my life, and am trying to build the eternal future of my family on certain certainties, knowledge, and absolute truths There are places where uncertainty does not exist. There is NO UNCERTAINTY about the existence of God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, and their love for us, none at all, There is NO UNCERTAINTY that God has a plan for us and that if we follow it fully we will return to Him. There is much we can know, and the value of this knowledge is immense. I KNOW that God exists, that the Plan of Salvation is real, that the scriptures are true, that Thomas S Monson and all his predecessors are true and living prophets of God, either in this life or the next, I KNOW that Jesus Christ died for my sins and that through His atoning sacrifice, I can repent and be saved from my sins. And there are many many more things that I and I believe most members of this forum absolutely KNOW. There are concrete answers. The CONCRETE ANSWER to the question of whether there is life after death is yes. The CONCRETE ANSWER to whether God knows and loves me is yes. And there are many more questions to which there are absolute CONCRETE ANSWERS I reject the idea that my beliefs are a result of what I have talked myself into. My gospel related beliefs, and knowledge are a product of revealed truth and guide what I choose to pursue and should be shaping my personality and eternal character. I reject the idea that uncertainty is that this life is full of. Rather than teaching that life is full of uncertainty, we should be trying to teach faith. truth and our divine identity and purpose - there are no better antidotes to the fear, hopelessness and worry that so often accompany excessive uncertainty.

Hi @Kimberley93 thanks for the update, i had been wondering how things are going. I can't make a proper reply to your post now as I have to go out, but I will post the following, and hopefully add to it later. I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, but what you are saying reminds me of a scripture in Matthew: 16 ¶ And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? 17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. 18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, 19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? 21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. 22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. It sounds like you don't have "great possessions" but I can see some similarities in your situation and that of the young man Jesus is speaking about here.

And the irony (perhaps there is a better word?) is that if we seek and do God's will all our life, power and glory is the promised reward. This relates closely to another question that I have been thinking about in the last week or so, but haven't yet precisely worded - something to do with the idea that the rewards on offer - power, honour and glory - might not be too appealing to those most entitled to receive them: the meek and the humble. Power, honour and glory seem like things that would be of great appeal to the proud.

The incentive, or motivation, or reward, call it what you will, that God offered His children, and that Lucifer asked of God, seems to me to be pretty much the same - power, honour and glory. Wickedness, lies, and sin seem to me to be more like tools to achieve a goal, rather than a motivation to achieve a goal. And this is what led me to think about this question. It seems to be to be a little surprising, and perhaps a little concerning, that what Lucifer sought for, and what God is offering, seem to be so similar. It suggests that we and Lucifer are motivated or incentivised by the same things.

Perhaps not Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son,

Is it the case that the rewards Lucifer sought for in the pre-existence – power, honour and glory1 – in return for bringing all of his Father’s children back to the presence of God the same as the reward that is offered to us – power honour and glory2 – in return for bringing back just our own soul to the presence of God? This is not a question about whether or not Satan’s plan would have worked, that question has been discussed extensively on this forum, I think on numerous occasions. It is a question about whether the rewards offered and sought for are the same. Because if they are the same, it raises the possibility that we and Satan, are being motivated, or “incentivised” by the same thing. 1. Moses 4:1 AND I, the Lord God, spake unto Moses, saying: That Satan, whom thou hast commanded in the name of mine Only Begotten, is the same which was from the beginning, and he came before me, saying—Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor. 2. D&C 75: 5 And thus, if ye are faithful ye shall be laden with many sheaves, and crowned with honor, and glory, and immortality, and eternal life. Doctrine and Covenants 84:38 And he that receiveth my Father receiveth my Father's kingdom; therefore all that my Father hath shall be given unto him.

I'll serve the sandwiches with a side of cherries.

Could you provide a source for this please? It sounds McConkieish. The King Follett discourse states that "God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens!" Obviously this statement is capable of more than one interpretation. One of those interpretations is that if God was once as I am now, since I am a sinner, then god was a sinner at some point. Given the enormous difference between a man who is imperfect and a man who is perfect, there is no way we could accurately say that a man who is perfect is like one who is not. Perhaps this statement could only be completely true if we add more flexibility to the current understanding of the term "eternity" in a manner similar to that suggested by Doctrine and Covenants 19:11. Perhaps it is only in this eternity, the one we are experiencing here and now, that it can be said that the Son and the Father are currently sinless. Another way in which it might start to make sense is if we accept the view that sin is no more and no less than the violation of God's will. When we take this view, it becomes easier to understand how it could be said that God is sinless, because people, animals and Gods are unlikely to violate their own will except through involuntary actions.

All human?

You don't eat cherries!!! I'm sorry @anatess2 we can no longer be friends

Your post reminds me of the position my daughter was in on her mission. During her setting apart it was made clear that she was going to be a planter rather than a harvester. On her mission, her Mission President was all about harvesting. So my daughter had to very significant figures in her church life basically telling her two things that were the opposite of each other. This was something she struggled with for much of her mission. Only one of these leaders could be right and in the end if ended up being the one who had set her apart.

TFP's comments led me to consider the possibilities that maybe there is one approach for transferring keys of dispensations, and another approach to transferring functional keys, eg, keys of the Priesthood, keys of gathering etc. If the keys of dispensations are transferred, maybe this is only done by the head of the dispensation, but perhaps functional keys are transferred by the previous key holder?

Doctrine and Scripture regarding Cleaning and Organising Or How to wrest the scriptures to support your pre-existing view Matthew 8:201 suggests that Christ did not have His own place so its unlikely that He did any house cleaning. This is an area in which I am 100% willing to follow His example It is recorded in the scriptures that on one occasion, Christ did clean His Father’s house 2. His methodology showed a preference for removal rather than reorganisation, ie, He threw the moneychangers out rather than organising them in a more orderly manner. The rationale for the revelation now known as the Word of Wisdom was Emma’s concern about having to clean up tobacco stains. Rather than reveal the formula for a new, super effective tobacco stain remover, God gave a revelation prohibiting the use of tobacco. This suggests that the preferred approach to cleaning is prevention before rather than cleaning up after. The Earth will be cleansed by fire, (scriptural reference) whereas our souls are cleansed by immersion in water (Scriptural reference). This suggests that difference approaches are required for different areas, and there is no “one size fits all.” Cleaners risk burn injuries if they mix up these two methods. The task of cleaning the Earth has been allocated to the angels 3. My kitchen, laundry, shed and garage are part of the earth. Far be it from me to take upon myself a task which has been assigned to the angels. 1. Matthew 8: 20 And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. 2. John 2 13 ¶ And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, 14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: 15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables; 16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise. 3. Doctrine and Covenants 38:12 Which causeth silence to reign, and all eternity is pained, and the angels are waiting the great command to reap down the earth, to gather the tares that they may be burned; and, behold, the enemy is combined.

We discussed this question in Sunday School last week. Most of the responses centred around the Plan of Salvation, and the three questions to where did we come from, why are we here, and where are we going. Other responses were temple. forever families, priesthood, sense of belonging and community, a fixed set of values in a rapidly changing world, prayer, peace, hope and reassurance.

There's no harm in waiting, and there's a risk of harm in moving to early, so I recommend avoid the risk, wait a little longer, and continue to prayerfully read the Book of Mormon.

I am saddened and surprised that a son of the land of kim chee should be so woefully misinformed as to its origins. I believe the Bob you are referring to was actually Bud, and he was not a distant cousin of Abraham, but a former neighbour and butler. The keys he held from Abraham were the keys to Abraham’s pantry, from which he would dispense grapes and dates. The trio you refer to started off as a quartet, but one of its members – Bob – died, so it became a trio. And my research reveals that, far from being sell outs, the concerts were financial flops, and that’s why they had to sneak away - to escape their creditors. And it wasn’t Bob who first cultivated cabbage in the Silian Empire – it was one of the wise men, Charles Babbage. I suspect the confusion arose when the first letters of his name and surname were reversed by a clumsy historian. While in the Silia Empire, Charles invented a machine that, 2,000 years later, and with introduction of silica, not pepper, became part of the great economic miracle of Korean growth, through the efforts of Samsung. Really, @Carborendum , you should have known better. Now you do

I think in this case, the wording of the section strongly indicates that it is not Christ that is being referred to in verse 12. Christ had already appeared to them in this vision, as described in verses 2 - 10. I agree with you that perhaps Abraham could have delegated this task to someone else although it is not easy to imagine what could have been keeping Abraham so busy that he was not able to do this job himself.

12 After this, Elias appeared, and committed the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham, saying that in us and our seed all generations after us should be blessed. I would have thought it would be Abraham who held and gives the keys for the gospel of Abraham rather than Elias. Would anyone care to speculate why it was Elias and not Abraham who gave these keys to Joseph Smith?

I go so that others will have a reason to come

I'm curious, about the above but if I asked about it then I would no longer be ignorant, and on the matter of the alcohol content of fresh bread, I'd prefer to remain ignorant

Love always involves a degree of vulnerability. You cannot love without accepting the possibility, and even the willingness, that you will be hurt. So you might have to look dumb. You might have to wear your heart on your sleeve. You might have to put yourself in situations you would prefer not to be in. You might have to expose yourself to the possibility of being hurt. That's how love works. As Benjamin Franklin once said, "nothing ventured, nothing gained" meaning if you don't risk anything, you won't gain anything. I say, take the risk rather than die wandering what might have happened. You've known this guy for 60 months. Surely you can wait for just one more month? I think its worth waiting a month until you are back in the same country. I don't think you should make any major decisions about the future of this friendships until either you've met face to face, or it becomes clear from his lack of response, or disinterested responses, that you are never likely to meet. If it does look like you will never meet, then wrap up your memories in a nice box with a nice ribbon and file them away under the headings "happy memories," "lessons learned" and "people who are(were?) special to me."

If you knew what carb had really spiked the punch with, you would realise that the bourbon vanilla Stroopwaffels incident just pales in comparison.

You wouldn't have had this problem if you'd passed around Australian meat pies.