laronius

Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. In our Bible Dictionary under the topic of prayer it states "We pray in Christ’s name when our mind is the mind of Christ, and our wishes the wishes of Christ—when His words abide in us (John 15:7). We then ask for things it is possible for God to grant. Many prayers remain unanswered because they are not in Christ’s name at all; they in no way represent His mind but spring out of the selfishness of man’s heart." I think this principle applies to all forms of worship of God. Worshipping is part of the process of taking upon us the name of Christ and becoming one with him, if done with the right attitude and righteous desire.

If Moroni did not translate that portion of the Jaredite record then it wouldn't be part of the gold plates Joseph had, sealed or unsealed.

That is one theory that I heard once upon a time, that separated from God's life sustaining light those in outer darkness essentially de-evolve back into their original state as intelligences. Of course, we don't know because God has specifically withheld the "end" of these individual's state. But if this is correct, what of those that have been resurrected? Maybe this is why God said it was better if they had never been born. Perhaps they are stuck there.

Perhaps a brief tangent, from the current tangent: My understanding was that sons of perdition are to be resurrected but this kind of appears to leave the other possibility open. D&C 76:37 And the only ones on whom the second death shall have any power; 38 Yea, verily, the only ones who shall not be redeemed in the due time of the Lord, after the sufferings of his wrath. 39 For all the rest shall be brought forth by the resurrection of the dead, through the triumph and the glory of the Lamb, who was slain, who was in the bosom of the Father before the worlds were made.

I agree. I don't think marriage was really the point in all this. Mr Higgins set out to turn her into a "lady" but in the meantime she was also having a refining influence upon him, as loath as he may have been to admit it. Had they tried to force some defined relationship the whole point might have been missed. I actually like how it ends.

I'm one of those rare exceptions you leave room for. 😃

I'm torn between the idea that there is major corruption in our elections and that the general public are really just that stupid. Some days I believe it's both.

The other day I watched a recreation of the assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan on YouTube. Even after being shot heading to the operating room that guy was a class act. What happened to those kind of politicians?

I get your frustrations and truth be told I don't think we will in reality see any real solutions. That's the sad reality. My post was mainly in response to what I think could trigger societal violence on a large scale and to me this is as good a probability as anything.

My biggest concern for our country concerns election integrity and transparency. This past election there were a significant number of republicans concerned about perceived irregularities in the election. Some of the issues were addressed but many on the left just blew them off as conspiracy theories. I think the knowledge that even if "my guy" is not in office we'll get another chance in a few years pacifies the masses in general. But if it ever gets to the point when many people, left or right, begin to believe that the system is rigged, that hope for the next election goes out the window and many will feel they have no other recourse but violence. We can't afford to just blow off claims of election fraud. Even if the claims are not founded in reality, steps must be taken to reassure the masses that their voice still counts. In the Book of Mormon it wasn't wickedness in general that brought the collapse of the government. Most everyone at that point was pretty much wicked. What brought it down was the struggle for power and the forced removal (via death) of a fairly elected leader.

As a nuclear propulsion novice, shouldn't the arrow be going from sparky sparky to roundy roundy or is the turbine actually steam driven?

A thought I just had pertaining to this thread comes from 1 Nephi 3:7 where Nephi states that whenever the Lord gives a commandment He will also provide a way for it to be kept. Given this principle, if someone is physically/medically unable to go without food and drink, it seems that the Lord will provide "a way" to observe the law of the fast that yet serves the purpose of the law.

I totally agree. I would much rather have a good deep meaningful discussion on one or two verses/topics then try to cover everything. The Spirit should always dictate where the lesson goes.

You classify ThirdHour discussions as only level VII???? That's only one level above apostates. 😂 Maybe theirs truth to that. Today in Sunday School the teacher, who normally does a decent job, did not read one verse of scripture during the entire class. But did he reference a podcast? Yep.

Is it just me or does it seem like every Sunday School class revolves around what Come Follow Me podcasts have to say about the scriptures? I know they can be helpful in personal study but I rarely ever hear a teacher say anymore "While I was studying the scriptures this week, here is what I learned...". It's kind of getting on my nerves.

Considering there are only 37 verses in that chapter then apparently we are missing at least two whole verses. So yes that would indicate an imperfection. 😃 But on a more serious note, I think the footnote on that word imperfection addresses your question pretty well.

Either they must forgive you or you won't encounter them in the Celestial Kingdom. I see this as a win-win. 😉

A related thought I have often had when studying deeper doctrine is how does the doctrine of the impossibility of being saved in ignorance apply. Does ignorance include the how as well as the what? I think it does. If that is the case then it tells me that the process of being saved extends far beyond this existence because there is so much of the how that we just don't or can't comprehend in our fallen state. And yet there are many things we can and are expected to comprehend here in this life. So whenever we run into a wall to further understanding of one doctrine it might just be that we are expected to build our foundation of knowledge in other areas first.

I think it would be fair to say that doing anything that physically harms our body would be breaking the word of wisdom or in more generic terms, breaking a law of God. For most people fasting is actually a healthy exercise. But for some it is not. So it could be argued that it is impossible for those individuals to obey both laws. What then? Like @Vortsays, I think there are blessings that are missed when, for whatever reason, we fail to obey a commandment. But I also believe in the compensating power of God to make these people whole because of divine grace. How exactly that happens I don't know. But I believe it just the same.

I have had a similar thought that many Christian believers will inherit a kingdom of glory just like they wanted only to find out they had set their sights far too low. Though I fully expect many are also sufficiently faithful to the knowledge they possess that they will accept the fullness of the gospel when given the chance. I was listening to a BYU speech recently where the speaker talked about the importance of learning to love to serve because that is what it means to be exalted. It wasn't a new idea for me but it did make me stop and reassess how much I desired exaltation based on that definition. I decided I needed to cultivate that desire a little more. In regards to your comment about the constant need for sacrifice in ministering to lesser kingdoms it does raise an interesting question of what eternal life consists of once everything pertaining to this life is finalized at the end of the millennium and what the relationship will be between those of the different kingdoms. I had always assumed that once everything is finalized that those who receive exaltation will turn their focus to the next generation of spiritual beings, their own children. Are you proposing that there will be an ongoing responsibility on the part Celestial beings to serve lesser kingdoms?

That word "sufficiently" caught my attention too. Clearly the Lord does not expect perfection from us before we can access the atonement so there must be some level of humility and repentance required before He grants his grace so perhaps that is what Alma is referring to. But like you said, that statement on pride seems to imply that still ultimately is not good enough. Perhaps it's a progressive thing, step one and then step two.

Alma 5: 27 Have ye walked, keeping yourselves blameless before God? Could ye say, if ye were called to die at this time, within yourselves, that ye have been sufficiently humble? That your garments have been cleansed and made white through the blood of Christ, who will come to redeem his people from their sins? 28 Behold, are ye stripped of pride? I say unto you, if ye are not ye are not prepared to meet God. Behold ye must prepare quickly; for the kingdom of heaven is soon at hand, and such an one hath not eternal life. In the context of these verses is Alma simply being repetitive to emphasize the importance of being humble or is he speaking of different things? I have always just assumed he was saying the same thing but using opposing terminology. But in a talk I heard recently it was said that we shouldn't just assume we already know the complete meaning of God's word and to continually seek additional insight. So that is what I'm doing.

I have wondered at times whether Jesus ever told a single made-up story in his life. I don't think there is anything that says a parable can't also be a literal account. But regardless, I don't have any problems believing this to be a factual account. Though I do wonder if the Lazarus we are familiar with was a beggar.

Dedicatory prayers. But those aren't your typical prayers.

They have to walk the fine line of making sure he loses the primary without taking the party down with him. So they can't be overly critical of him but they do need to damage his reputation among Democrats. But how much is enough without being too much? It will be interesting to see.