puf_the_majic_dragon

Dude! The Brick Testament I knew I'd like it when I read the site owner's self-written about page: "Most ministers, priests, or other religious clerics would not actually use "The Reverend" before their own names, for to do so would be presumptuous and rather vain. The Rev. Brendan Powell Smith is not an ordained member of any earthly church, and is widely regarded as being both highly presumptuous and extremely vain."

If discussing it is so futile, why'd you even bother to post? Seems counter productive to me. To answer the original question, I think life on Mars would be very little different from a heliocentric solar system. A few religious extremists will shout "Hoax" but shortly after the furor will die down and we'll all find new ways of interpreting our religious beliefs around the latest scientific discoveries. Personally, I think God created a set of rules (something like setting up dominoes) and when he set off the Big Bang the dominoes started falling according to His design. Those rules enabled life to form on this planet, it seems to me that they would also enable life to form on dozens, hundreds, or "billions and billions" of other planets :) And if anybody truly thinks that this planet is the one and only pinnacle of creation from the beginning of the eternities, well then

Here's what I would do: Talk to your sister and come to an agreement then express that agreement to your dad. The agreement being that neither you nor your sister will have any contact with him whatsoever, nor will either of your kids be allowed near him. Period. I would suggest writing it in a letter, saying it in person or over the phone gives too much chance for him to not listen. And make it clear to him WHY you are making this decision - in order to protect your children from his violence. I don't know your dad or how this would affect him, but I see it in two ways - that it protects you and your sister's families, and it gives your father the opportunity to experience the consequences of his actions and possibly start the process of change. And just because I'm Mormon... Prayer should also be involved. Let the Lord guide you in making the right decision to protect your family and to forgive (and possibly help) your father.

This Day in History 1970: Heyerdahl sails papyrus boatPicture of the boat: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/RaII.InMuseum.jpg :) I love it when someone says "can't" because there's always somebody else out there willing and able to prove "can". I think Rameumptom's response is clear enough for this. I would append that the bottom hole was also for removal of waste. And who knows, possibly fishing :) I doubt the holes would have been any use for water, being ocean salt water it wouldn't have been potable. Pacific? Isn't that kinda taking the long way around? Also, since the Pacific islands were already populated at Nephi's time, they would have been very likey to bump into other cultures, islands, and boats on their trip through Polynesia - none of which were mentioned in the BOM account. Of course absence of evidence is not evidence of absence... But I think the Atlantic would have been the better route.

As far as I'm aware, there are no explicit instructions in the BOM for Nephi's ship, so we can only speculate how it looked. I've never thought of the Jeredite ships as "submarines" - they weren't designed to submerge intentionally, but they were designed to survive being submerged temporarily. The way I've always heard it is that the Lord answered the questions upon which their survival depended. Light, although very convenient, would not be necessary for life. I'm not sure I buy that explanation 100%, personally. Maybe God wanted Mohonri to think for himself a little bit (I don't think God wants mindless automatons). Or perhaps we'll never know the real reason. "Glass was manufactured in open pits, ca. 3000 B.C." Why wasn't it used? Eh, any number of reasons from inneffectiveness to time constraints or lack of glassmakers in their group. Well speak for yourself. "About 5,000 years ago, Ancient Egyptians already knew how to assemble planks of wood into a ship hull." I'm having difficulty finding any conclusive information on dating the Jaredites or the Tower of Babel in order to compare the histories of ship-building and the Jaredites, but it's reasonable to assume that there were many cultures with maritime skills around at the time.

This may not be the most "mormon" answer, but in my book forgiveness takes a back seat to protecting my loved ones. Having grown up with abuse myself, (If I had kids) were I to see an incident such as you describe between my father and my child, I would raise my voice and tell my father in no uncertain terms that his behavior was NOT appropriate and I would pack up my family and leave immediately. Once my family is safe, then I'd start working on forgiveness. :edit: If this happened at my house, I would inform my father that he had overstayed his welcome and ask him to leave. And I probably wouldn't be diplomatic about it; I wouldn't resort to violence myself but I wouldn't be quiet about it either. Thankfully, however, my family situation has changed a lot, especially my father. Since my mom died when I was 19, I've watched my dad learn love and patience in ways that I would have thought impossible before. For this, I can say I am grateful to my mom for the gift of her passing, and I can say I'm probably lucky that I've had the opportunity to patch things up with my family. It's certainly made my job trying to forgive him easier.

Alright, so the next time I want to rob a convenience store, before I pull a gun I'll ask the clerk "So by chance are you fasting tonight?" :) Congrats on the 23 years!

Everybody likes to have common interests with someone they date. We discriminate based on clothing styles, hair color, employment status or type, educational interests, political views etc. I think that there is a very good reason why religion should be one of those things held in common. I find it funny that people throw a fit over religion being the reason to end (or not start) a relationship but they won't say anything about politics or employment when those end a relationship. We need to be more tolerant and accepting of other people's views and their RIGHT to have those views. But in doing so we should never compromise our views or our standards.

This is all true. But I think it is just as true to say it in the opposite order - that he is more than the Creator of Worlds and the Redeemer of Mankind, he is our brother and friend and confidant. I full-heartedly believe that the reason Jesus chose to suffer through the atonement was his love for us - a love born of the wonderful family relationship we have with him as spirit children of our Father in Heaven. Being a brother, a friend, a confidant, a comrade, and dare I say a buddy does not lessen in any way the grandeur of his Godhood and the beauty of the Atonement. Absolutely! I think prayer is as much an opportunity to laugh about the good times as much as it is to cry about the bad. And as your example with the car shows, what is "good" or "bad" is often only in how we view it. I can honestly say the death of my mom when I was 19 was a good thing because of how it has strengthened and shaped the rest of our family's relationships. God looks out for us, even when we feel like he's intentionally out to get us.

Using Exodus in evidence of YHVH having a body is kind of superfluous. I think a couple of us have already quoted the D&C where it says that "All spirit is matter", and from the Brother of Jared's account (and he saw YHVH entire, not just his finger) and D&C we know that our spirit bodies (and thus Jesus' spirit body) look the same as our physical bodies (minus, of course, the defects of this imperfect existence). In any case, I appreciate the mention of God the Father in revelations and the difference between his description and that of Jesus. MrNirom: Yes, it is a losing battle. At least when you try to debate it secularly. I suggest, instead of trying to prove your point, that you instead present a few important pieces of evidence (Biblical descriptions of God the Father and Jesus as seperate beings) and then bear testimony and exhort your fellows to pray on the matter. That almost always has a more profound effect than debating the issue to death.

I've heard of and studied about many of the apocryphal "lost books", I even have a copy of them that I lent to a friend (who still needs to return them to me). In any case, that's a fun story :) I can't help but imagine God laughing hysterically at the joke.

Ew. No offense, but that thought just seems to negetive to me. It seems to focus on fear (terror) and not love, respect, and the incredible mind-blowing capacity and desire that our Heavenly Father has to GIVE, and not to take away. I'm not sure that we could handle laughing that hard in our carnal and fallen state you might sufficate from the strain. I suggest waiting till the resurrection When I pray personally, I think of it more as a conversation than a petition - which is hard considering how infantile my faith is. I generally end up having a rather one-sided conversation, but that is more because I don't listen, not because he doesn't talk. I'm in the midst of learning now to balance that conversational familiarity with the reverence and respect due a deity. I'm going to go back to what I said earlier, that how we approach God depends a lot upon the circumstances of our speaking with Him. :edit: I do remember hearing a Mormon urban legend that Joseph Smith prayed one time over a meager family meal "Father, we're grateful for what we have but we wish we had more. Amen." which was followed immediately by a knock at the door from a loving saint offering a loaf of bread. I've never bothered to substantiate that story....

Yes it absolutely does :) but it's still accurate.

I agree whole-heartedly that the numbers have clouded out the real purpose. But the numbers still tell us something, and I think most wards do their part by setting standards for what qualifies as a HT visit. If your EQ president says that bumping into someone at the grocery store counts as a HT visit and you only get 50% - that number can say a lot. If we truly loved our neighbors and our ward, the numbers wouldn't matter.

Who can turn down cookies??? I agree with Lehi, it's called home TEACHING for a reason. But Skippy is right, the primary purpose for your visit is to gain an understanding of that family's needs and desires. If you go into your Home Teaching prayerfully and ask the Lord what your families' needs are and how you can help them meet those needs, you'll be blessed with inspiration to bring to that family the things they are most in need of. Sometimes a family doesn't need a lesson. Sometimes the lesson a family needs is one from your own experience and not from the front page of the Ensign. Sometimes the Ensign lesson is inspired for that one particular family that you home teach. Earnest prayer will always help you to know what is appropriate and necessary for your families.

You're absolutely right. Ad hominem to the Nth degree. While your reasons I hold in high esteem, your approach, and specifically the conjecture that you used in your approach, went against everything that I personally understood as truth and accepted as reality. Unfortunately, I'm the kind of person who takes contradictions to his values and principles as a personal afront, even when it's not meant to be. Not an excuse, just an explanation. I expect I owe you an apology for my unwarranted personal attack. This will have to suffice for now. I am sorry for my unfair introduction. Personally, to suggest that any given line of scripture was once written in a completely different fashion than what we have before us without any scholarly evidence (be it grammatical, linguistic, semantic, or an ancient manuscript) or revelatory manifestation is borderline blasphemy (in my opinion). Especially when the existing text has a clear and simple interpretation that leads to the same conclusion you are trying to draw with the supposed changes. Besides that, it overcomplicates things.

"I'm not lost, I'm hiding!" Haha I'm so stealing that! Bytor: Yes, direction probably does matter more than speed, but speed still does matter. I'm sure some of us think we're heading in the right direction when we're "standing still" and we don't realize till it's too late that we were facing the right direction but moving backwards the whole time. I've also learned that "momentum" makes a big difference too. When we hit a big bump in the road it's a lot easier to hold our faith as we overcome it when we've been actively strengthening our faith. From experience I know that a "passive faith" (if there were really such a thing) falls apart completely when you hit a pothole.

You're absolutely right, everyone is a people (yes I said that on purpose ) The problem with dating people with other theological beliefs is that it causes problems in a relationship. Different beliefs, different goals, different desires all play out and cause strife. A simple example - if you marry someone of a different faith, which church do your kids go to? Who says what prayer at bedtime? When the kids ask about God, who's belief do you use to answer? While all of these (and other) questions CAN be worked out, they all add unnecessary complication and friction to relationships - and these days relationships are already so tenuous why would you want to make them any harder? Yes good things can happen when a member dates a non-member. But so can bad things. I suggest following the commandments to keep it "in the covenant" but if you absolutely must date a non-member, do so prayerfully.

How do I put this delicately? Um... You're full of it. Why should it? No it doesn't (you used Young's Concordance didn't you?). Yahweh - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia makes it clear how many different possibilities there are. Pure and utter speculation with 0 scriptural, revelatory, or scholarly basis. At least you admit that your assertions have no support.LDS doctrine states that Elohim (אליכם transliterated 'aLHYM) is the name of God the Father. LDS doctrine states that Yahweh/Jehovah (יהוה transliterated YHVH) is the same as Jesus Christ. Modern scholars suggest that the most likely root for YHVH is the Hebrew verb hayah (to be) with no clear translation. Exodus 3:14 - ויאמר אלהים אל משה אהיה אשר אהיה ויאמר כה תאמר לבני ישראל אהיה שלחני אליכם׃ Transliterated - VY'aMUr 'aLHYM 'aL-MShH 'aHYH 'aShUr 'aHYH VY'aMUr KH Th'aMUr LBNY YShUr'aL 'aHYH ShLChNY 'aLYKM. Translated - And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. Every manuscript we have uses the "Elohim" in this verse. It is completely unreasonable to assume against all evidence that the verse was written any other way. The most plausible explanation is that which we already have - that God the Father spoke to Moses and told Moses that "I am that I am". While YHVH is possibly related to the 'aHYH verb in this verse, it is completely unclear and mere speculation whether 'aHYH is a reference to YHVH. A secondary explanation: Since Elohim is the plural form of the Hebrew root "Eloah" meaning God, it is possible (I'm going against modern prophets here) that Elohim is a title representing the entire Godhead (Father, Son, and Holy Ghost) and not just God the Father. In this case, Moses' visitation was from all three members of the Godhead, and not one member in particular (compare Stephen and Joseph Smith). In this instance, the use of the verb "to be" may easily have been a reference to YHVH. Of course this is my own concoction and, although I believe it more well supported than yours, is still subject to the same scrutiny (which I welcome!).

Exactly. Here's a perfect example from Youtube: YouTube - Criss Angel - Levitates From Building to Building Look at the shadows. At 1:14 his shadow is angular, pointed towards the right side of the building, looks to be around 9am or so, give or take. At 1:29, from the same camera angle, his shadow is perfectly parrallel to the edge of the building, the sun would be directly behind him. Conclusion: Several hours passed between those 15 seconds of footage. Or it's a different building. Either way the presence of the shadows suggests that it wasn't a green screen. More likely a wire from a crane, possibly two wires from two cranes so they could be spaced farther apart and not immediately visible to the specified camera angles. Note: None of the "cameramen" gives us a 360 degree panorama to demonstrate the lack of any crane or other device from which to suspend a wire. I also checked out his "walking on water" routine in a swimming pool. Obviously green screen. Any first year film student could see that. I've done better green screening myself with photoshop and a Sony Handycam. P.S. Those are high definition cameras he's using in those vids. The videos I've found are definitely NOT HD. Someone with digital cable and an HDTV (who actually knows how to tell) could tell us whether the show is broadcast in HD, A&E's website doesn't say. I suspect it's not, the badly done film effects would show too easily through high definition. Oh, and those HD cameras are $15,000 to $40,000 cameras he's just handing out to random people on the street? Riiiight.

Which is totally and absolutely your right :) I never claimed to have a monopoly on truth, I can only speak from my own experience.

I'm reticent to get into too many details about my past, but basically when you explore the.. "dark side"... it's either out of curiosity (which usually dies pretty fast and you move on to the next shiny object) or out of a lust for power - control. Sometimes out of revenge, but that usually translates into control. Fame and fortune rarely if ever factor into the equation, and those are almost always just short term avenues to gain power. Nobody makes a deal with the devil so they can walk on water to the delight of little children and the bewilderment of their parents. Those are just cheap tricks.

I can tell you from experience if he were using such powers he wouldn't be using them as a magician on a tv show. At least - not if he had any clue what it was he was messing with.

My friend told me he (Elvis) taught the first discussion to Hillary Clinton while she was campaigning there. :edit: Just a thought... All these girls liking the "dirty" unkempt Johnny Depp look have got me to thinking... It's almost like that advice that our Church leaders give us men to maintain high grooming standards and a clean and well-kept appearance is meant to keep us single... Or are they telling all the women to go after clean and well groomed men and the women just aren't listening?

1: Faith is Hope. To me, faith is not knowing - not even believing. It's wanting to know so badly it hurts. It's hoping even when all reason for hope is lost. It's trust that someday your hope will be answered. 2: Mmm see #1 3: YES. The faith exists. Whether or not people have it is another story. A lot of non-LDS churches talk about how the heaven's are closed and there is no more revelation, no more miracles, no more scripture. Even though we are LDS, we often fall for this dogma as well, at least in the deepest recesses of our hearts. We think "Yes the heavens are open, but not to me" or "Yes, miracles happen, but I'll never see one". And yet it is plain in the scriptures that ALL men (and women) can have the heavens unfolded to them JUST as Moses and Abraham and Lehi and Nephi. I think, in short, that we waiver ( James 1: 6 ). I haven't read it (I'm going to start tonight) but I suggest perhaps that Joseph Smith's Lectures on Faith might help you come to understand faith better: Lectures On Faith. :edit: Not to over emphasize, but I think it's important enough that I bring in some references. Doctrine and Covenants 93: 1 "Verily, thus saith the Lord: It shall come to pass that every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am;" I think people tend to interpret this as "I'll see him in the next life or the millenium". But read the footnotes: Doctrine and Covenants 130: 3 "John 14:23—The appearing of the Father and the Son, in that verse, is a personal appearance; and the idea that the Father and the Son dwell in a man’s heart is an old sectarian notion, and is false." John 14:23 for reference. Everyone - and that means YOU - can see God. With the plainness laid out in the scriptures, it's a wonder to me that every mormon hasn't had their own "First Vision".