Larry Cotrell

1 Corinthians 7:5 "Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency."

I need to step up my game. @Vort is on the leader board way too much

Welcome to the forum, @jmhranch!

Here's verse 8 of the same chapter: "Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any." There is no precise definition of Elohim. I see it as a being who is eternally omniscient and omnipotent. However, my exact definition of "God" in this verse is irrelevant. The important part is that whatever the qualifications are for being a "god," there is only one who meets them, and that is the God of the Bible (even the demons agree with me on that James 2:19) none other comes close. Isaiah 46:9 "Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,"

My purpose of bringing up this verse was to show that God has always been God. If this is the case (as the Bible says) God could have never been a man because he has always been God. It's as simple as that. All that is being said is that a god has never formed and a god will never form. The rest you are adding and is not in the text. God is the only God, has always been the only God, and will always be the only God. Isaiah 44:6 "Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.

So are you saying that eternity is not endless? That it is only for a certain undefined period of time?

How do you (or LDS people in general) interpret verses like Psalm 90:2 and Isaiah 43:10?

There has been a lot of discussion about eternal progression lately and I wanted to add my thoughts in the proper place. Here's John 10:34 "Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?" In this passage Jesus is quoting Psalms 82:6 "I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High." Psalm 82 is really about earthly rulers acting with justice. They are "gods" among the people but are being reminded that they will still have to face judgement from the one true God. In this passage, the Hebrew word Elohim is used to mean rulers as it is in Exodus 22:8,9, and 28. When Jesus uses the word "gods" in John 10 we know that he is referring to earthly leaders when we look at in the context of Psalm 82. In no way does this verse support eternal progression unless you look at it by itself. Here's what I believe: Psalm 90:2 "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God." Isaiah 43:10 "Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me."

Agreed

Well, you don't have to believe it if you don't want to, but I do know people that draw that conclusion; I'm glad you are not one of them.

My favorite modern one is definitely Oceans by Hillsong. It's such a powerful song when there is a group a people singing it together. Last time I sang it I started crying, which is extremely rare, not to mention a little embarrassing.

Saw this and thought it was worth sharing. Dentist's Favorite Hymn: Crown Him With Many Crowns Weatherman's Favorite Hymn: There Shall Be Showers of Blessings Contractor's Favorite Hymn: The Church's One Foundation Tailor's Favorite Hymn: Holy, Holy, Holy Golfer's Favorite Hymn: There is a Green Hill Far Away Politician's Favorite Hymn: Standing On The Promises Optometrist's Favorite Hymn: Open My Eyes That I May See IRS Agent's Favorite Hymn: I Surrender All Gossip's Favorite Hymn: Pass It On Electrician's Favorite Hymn: Send Out Thy Light Shopper's Favorite Hymn: Sweet By And By

I believe God tries to reveal Himself to them, but that is where it ends until they accept Him. James 1:6-7 "But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord." John 9:31 is another notable verse, "Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.

A Mighty Fortress is Our God Great lyrics, written by Martin Luther

Not a bad idea, many more people are meeting online now. There are many specialized dating sites. In fact there's several specifically for LDS folks. Also, some of the bigger dating sites have sections by religion. It's worth looking into.

Here's a link from lds.org: https://www.lds.org/topics/mother-in-heaven?lang=eng And, of course, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavenly_Mother_(Mormonism)

I am not arguing that legalization won't happen, just that I wish it didn't. I realize that it is inevitable that it will be legal all across the nation before too long. My biggest worry with legalizing marijuana and gay marriage is what's next? Cocaine? Marrying Relatives?

Legalizing recreational marijuana is a terrible idea. I've scene it affect people that I've known personally. They call it "the gateway drug" for a reason. When you make it legal, people don't see it as the drug it is and it becomes much easier for underage people to get their hands on it. I have some family in Oregon and it has become a HUGE problem there. When I go visit them, there's pot shops all over. Sometimes there is two or three that you can see from one spot. Sad.

If you were going to update it, why not update verse 13 Grocery stores and refrigerators make verse 13 seem irrelevant now. However, I don't understand how someone can add to D&C without modern revelation. It doesn't seem right.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe some of the sentiment against the term "Mormon" comes from the idea that is clearly displayed in 3 Nephi 27:8: 8 And how be it my church save it be called in my name? For if a church be called in Moses’ name then it be Moses’ church; or if it be called in the name of a man then it be the church of a man; but if it be called in my name then it is my church, if it so be that they are built upon my gospel.

Just to clarify, I was not accusing anyone of worshiping more than one god. In fact, that is quite the opposite of what I said. Thanks to one and all for your answers to my question.

Here's the definition of Henotheism: "the belief in and worship of a single god while also believing the existence or possible existence of other deities." @Bad Karma, this sounds like Mormonism to me too. I don't think @MarginOfError was trying to attack you or anyone's religion. Can you please explain why Mormonism isn't henotheisitc?

Welcome to the forum, @a mustard seed. This is a good place to have meaningful conversations. Also, that is very good art.

I definitely agree with @prisonchaplain on this. However, the important part is that the God of the Old Testament is consistent with the God of the New Testament. This is also crucial because someone could come along and say, "I like the genocide verses better, so I'm going to gather an army and wipe people out." If you want to fully understand the God of the Bible, you have look at the Bible as a whole, not as little pieces to pick and choose. It is in this whole that God has revealed himself to the world. Sometimes God does things we don't understand because we have a limited view of what is happening. He stands watching, outside the restraints of time, and knows everything that has happened, everything that is happening, and everything that will happen. It is like you driving a car and swerving because you are about to hit something. Your toddler in the back seat yells, "Hey, what was that for" as the whole car shifts. He doesn't understand what is happening because he has a limited view and can't see past the seat in front of him. We as humans have this same limited view. We don't always know why God did what He did but do always know that He has a reason for doing what He does. You can say, "Let's only look at the parts of the Bible that seem consistent to me and assume that the rest didn't happen," but again, this is dangerous. We should read the Bible as a whole and understand that that the God of the Bible has done things that we don't fully understand the reasons for. He knows best.

Many people ignore passages about God ordering thousands of people to be killed. Here's an example from 1 Samuel 15:2-3: "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass." Here's the problem, when people ignore these verses they ignore God's judgement. Ignoring God's judgement is a very dangerous things. God is both just and loving, but people tend to like the loving part better so they ignore His justice. This thinking leads to dangerous claims like "Everyone will eventually go to heaven because God loves everyone." I don't mean in any way that you are making this claim. It's a nice thought, but God had to wipe out wicked people because he is a just God, just think of the flood. Picking and choosing what parts of the Bible you like and don't like is really dangerous. I don't know how to emphasize that enough; clicking bold and underline doesn't cut it.