russell

props man, my thoughts exactly. Alas, I'm afraid there are many people in the church that are a tad uptight, and think that every specific thing they do must be "OK'd" by a "church stance." You're right on bro. While Church Leaders are here to help us through our lives, they are under no authority to introduce new rules or "do not's" unless they are the prophet of God, and luckily, the Prophet usually does not say "whats ok and whats not" about every little thing. Talking about the whole plastic surgery and caffiene examples, to each his own man. Since God, through his prophet has not said anything specific about them, we are free to choose for ourselves.

if you felt worthy to say a prayer, then there is a 99% chance that it was ok. Either way, "serious sin" is not something I would label it.

I think perhaps seminary is not helpful for many young people due to it's schedule. When I was younger and went to seminary, I would not be able to remember a thing the next day, I was just too tired. And it wasn't as if I went to bed super late. Scientists everywhere agree that teenagers need 9 hours of sleep each night to preform to the best of their abilities. I think the way institute is set up is much more beneficial, and remember getting a lot more out of it, even though I did graduate 4 years of seminary.