puf_the_majic_dragon

Deuteronomy 20 So the Israelites were supposed to conquer cities first by diplomacy and then by war and after succeeding they get the spoils of war. So what's the problem? That's standard practice, even today. We tried diplomacy with Iraq, then went to war and now we have the spoils - we have Hussein's palaces, his gold, and you better believe a lot of your good little soldier boys have had his women. So the Israelites were commanded to destroy EVERYTHING of the nations whose land they were seizing in order to ensure that the pagan practices of those people would not rub off on Israel. So what's the problem? Numbers 31 Again, standard military practice. Heck that's half the point of war is to kill the men, take the women, and eat their food. The other half of the point of war is to convert people (or kill them if they won't convert). Again, these things haven't changed even today. Now if you want to know why God endorses these practices at these particular instances in scripture - well ask God. I can't read his mind so I couldn't tell ya. You might try reading the LDS Institute of Religion manuals (available freely online at Seminaries and Institutes of Religion Login).

The best way is probably to just talk to a counselor or therapist - somebody whose profession is finding deeper problems. Discussing this with your bishop and seeking his opinion on whether or not it's necessary isn't a bad idea either. As far as figuring it out on your own, it can take longer and be harder and it takes some serious self inspection. You have to find patterns in when you do it, search for the influences that bring the tempting thoughts into your mind, analyze your thought patterns during those times to discern what keeps you from immediately dismissing the temptation, and focus on the mood and feelings and state of mind you have during and immediately prior to those times when you are struggling with the temptation. You might also look at your life situation, moods, and feelings during those times when you are able to withstand the temptation and see what's different about those times. You can see how it would be easier with a counselor who knows the right questions to ask and exercises to perform that can focus your efforts. Like I said, for me, it's loneliness. I noticed once that I had asked a girl out and she had said yes and during the entire week leading up to our first (and unfortunately only) date I didn't have a single problem. My environment was the same, the only variable was the girl. When I didn't get a second date and lost hope again, that's when my resolve waivered. My strength comes from the hope for a lasting and loving eternal companion. My weakness comes from the loneliness and despair that comes from not having that hope. Keep in mind that there may not be any deeper significance. Sometimes boys, even good mormon boys, (and also girls, even good mormon girls) masturbate simply out of boredom. There's nothing better to do and it feels good. This behavior is especially dangerous in leading to a chemical addiction similar to nicotine or drugs, because the emotional state that starts the cycle is so common. And young people get bored so easily nowadays...

I just want to reiterate that while removing the temptation is a good plan - it is only a solution if your problem is a genuine chemical dependancy with no other factors. Porn and masturbation can often indicate deeper problems such as depression, and I think it's important to treat the illness, not just the symptoms. I'll use myself as an example - if I masturbate because I feel lonely, then hanging out with people can help prevent me from indulging. However, it's impossible to go the rest of my life without feeling lonely some time and if I don't find another more appropriate way to deal with those feelings of loneliness then I'll slip right back into those old habits.

I'm usually hesitant to offer interpretations of scripture because there's often a lot of room for different interpretations and I don't want to act like mine is more authoritative than anyone else's. The exception is usually when I have GA testimony to back me up :) In any case... I'll go through this verse with the caveat that this is my interpretation and is not authoritative and *could* be dead wrong! - But I'm full of myself and think it's right "Verily, verily, I say unto you, if a man marry a wife according to my word, and they are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, according to mine appointment," To be sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise seems to imply, from my readings, that after the sealing ordinance, the Holy Ghost comes and approves and confirms the sealing through the obedience of those people involved. This applies to every priesthood ordinance, not just marriage. "...and he or she shall commit any sin or transgression of the new and everlasting covenant whatever, and all manner of blasphemies, and if they commit no murder wherein they shed innocent blood, yet they shall come forth in the first resurrection, and enter into their exaltation;" This tells me that a person can commit any sin other than murder and still be exalted "...but they shall be destroyed in the flesh, and shall be delivered unto the buffetings of Satan unto the day of redemption, saith the Lord God." However, if they commit sin, they will not have the protection of the Holy Ghost - which provides a HUGE protective shield against Satan and his minions. The way the verse by itself is written seems to imply that by being sealed, a person is almost guaranteed exaltation. Because of the law of justice, this means that a person must be able to repent in the post-mortal life before the final judgement - which we know *can* happen since that is how vicarious temple ordinances work. However from verse 19 we can infer that we only have up until the second resurrection (at the end of the millenium prior to the final judgement) to perform this repentance. I seem to recall another D&C scripture that spoke of those who would be in this state having to suffer the consequences for their sins as if there had been no atonement - but I don't have the reference for that right now. Verse 28 provides more information on the blasphemy and murder sins, in a way making them very much the same sin. These sins are completely unforgivable and there is no repentance in the spirit world for them. The part about abiding the law is a little ambiguous - it's not clear whether the phrase is referring to just the sins of blasphemy and murder or if it is referring to the entire covenant. If it refers only to the two unforgivable sins, that makes verse 27 very open-ended. If it refers to the entire "New and Everlasting Covenant" then it suggests that a certain measure of obedience and righteous living is still required in this life in order to receive the blessings of the covenant. I'm partial to the latter interpretation. To summarize - it may be possible that a person who has been sealed in the temple could live a pretty sinful life and still receive exaltation by repenting for those sins in spirit prison before the final judgement. However, post-mortal repentance is no replacement for mortal righteousness. And to finish off - I'll reiterate that this is all my own opinion and interpretation and is certainly open to debate (in fact I welcome it!) so don't take it as gospel truth.

LOL Easy problem He installed a trojan horse virus on her computer. It's literally child's play. The kid's a newb and I'd be more than happy to teach him a lesson. Restart her computer completely; wait until it's totally finished booting up. Before opening any programs or messengers (make sure any instant messengers are closed), go to Start > Run and type "cmd" and press enter. In the new window type "netstat". Take a screenshot of that screen by pressing the "print screen" button and then open Paint and paste it in there. Save the image as a jpg and send it to me. OR just get a decent antivirus program and firewall installed on her computer. Or go the drastic route and reformat it like wingnut says. Btw - I'm Der Ubergeek. Comic book superhero. :edit: To give more information, a trojan horse is a software program that allows a remote user (ie somebody over the internet) to interact with your computer in devious and nasty ways. Some even allow them to interact with your computer as if they were sitting there in front of it. The common description of victims is that "my computer is posessed!" with things like deleted e-mails, randomly moving mouse cursors, disappearing icons, and the cd drawer opening and closing randomly. Trojan horses are a favorite of the "script kiddie" stage in geek development where a young newbie geek thinks he's really cool by "taking over" somebody else's machine, when in fact they have done nothing more than illustrate their own ignorance. Trojan horses can usually be detected by most updated antivirus programs, and they are easily removed by such. A knowledgeable computer geek can manually remove trojans with relative ease. Software firewalls can prevent the trojan from accessing the internet, thus blocking the script kiddie from doing anything, however the trojan will still be active on the system exposing the computer to danger if the firewall ever fails. Some of the more advanced trojans include features that disable antivirus and firewall software before installing themselves to avoid this danger. Symantec, McAffee, and Microsoft all offer free online virus scans that can usually detect these viruses. Your daughter should get the trojan removed - best done by a combination of a good antivirus program and a good professional geek. Then she needs to change ALL of her passwords for EVERYTHING to ensure the script kiddie can't access her accounts on various sites. Finally, the script kiddie needs to be taught a lesson in humility and ettiquette (ie rule number one - a hacker is not malicious). This can be done by calling the police, however this usually results in nothing being done - but at worst could pin an otherwise relatively innocent kid with a very nasty computer crimes record for the rest of his life (akin to convicting a 14 year old of sexual harrassment for peeking into the girl's locker room). The best way to teach the kid a lesson is to hack him back and make him wish he were smarter - usually by telling him to "format c:".

There are caveats. Verse 27: "The blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, which shall not be forgiven in the world nor out of the world, is in that ye commit murder wherein ye shed innocent blood, and assent unto my death, after ye have received my new and everlasting covenant, saith the Lord God; and he that abideth not this law can in nowise enter into my glory, but shall be damned, saith the Lord." Blasphemy against the HG, murder, and abiding not the law pretty much "break" the sealing. The law spoken of refers, I believe, to the "New and Everlasting Covenant" which is the full breadth of the Gospel (not just eternal marriage). So sealing doesn't negate the need for repentance or for righteous living. :edit: RE the law - it could also be reflexive, speaking specifically about the blasphemy and murder thing. My vote says it's more general than that.

Actually, I worked at a zoo for some time and am a licensed (bonded and insured) troll handler :)

BINGO!....? Maybe. Doctrine and Covenants 132 26 "Verily, verily, I say unto you, if a man marry a wife according to my word, and they are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, according to mine appointment, and he or she shall commit any sin or transgression of the new and everlasting covenant whatever, and all manner of blasphemies, and if they commit no murder wherein they shed innocent blood, yet they shall come forth in the first resurrection, and enter into their exaltation; but they shall be destroyed in the flesh, and shall be delivered unto the buffetings of Satan unto the day of redemption, saith the Lord God." Then language of the verse can be a little confusing, but it's a pretty powerful implication.

Well if what you said before were true - then it doesn't matter if we keep our covenants because all it would take is one righteous person keeping their covenants to pull all the rest of us up into Celestial glory. Apostles ARE prophets. And everything I've found so far on LDS.org, regardless of the author, agrees. So far I have some good articles on marriage and the importance of keeping covenants, however I've found little on what the sealing power actually does (outside of authorizing an eternal marriage relationship). The articles I've found do talk a lot about how the sealing actually operates - how the covenants are made and then the Holy Spirit of Promise then confirms or approves the covenants when they are kept. Below is a list of articles I've found so far. LDS.org - New Era Article - Celestial Marriage LDS.org - Liahona Article - Celestial Marriage: Part 2 LDS.org - New Era Article - Q&A: Questions and Answers LDS.org - Ensign Article - Marriage in the Lord’s Way, Part One LDS.org - Ensign Article - Marriage in the Lord’s Way, Part Two LDS.org - Ensign Article - The Gift of the Holy Ghost—A Sure Compass LDS.org - New Era Article - Q&A: Questions and Answers LDS.org - Ensign Article - Temple Worship: The Source of Strength and Power in Times of Need LDS.org - New Era Article - Q&A: Questions and Answers Joseph Smith - Power to Seal on Earth and in Heaven - Readings Some interesting notes: The Holy Spirit of Promise seals more than just temple sealings - including all priesthood ordinances (baptism, confirmation, blessings, etc). The sealing power was used by Elijah to "seal the heavens", by Moses to bring forth water from the rock, and by Noah to curse Canaan and his house. Possibly by Nathan to curse David's house, however that's just a theory of mine that I haven't found any modern revelation to fully support yet. As far as your marriage covenants go, Elder Cree-L Kofford has some details: 1. Individual covenants and blessings. Each of you will individually and separately make promises, commitments, and covenants with your Heavenly Father and will individually receive promises of blessings conditioned on your individual worthiness. The individual nature of these promises is such that even if one of you were to cease being obedient following your participation in the sealing ordinance and so lose the promises made to you, the other partner who remained faithful would continue to be eligible to receive the promised blessings. These are the blessings that will be yours regardless of your husband's decisions and actions. 2. Joint covenants and blessings. The two of you jointly will make promises, commitments, and covenants with your Heavenly Father and will make covenants to receive each other as husband and wife. You then will jointly receive promises of blessings conditioned upon your joint faithfulness. The continued faithful obedience of both of you is essential if the promised blessings are to be received jointly. This is because the promises are made to you as one—that is, as a single unit consisting of two halves. These are the blessings that you will NOT receive if your husband does not keep his covenants. 3. Joining in celestial marriage. This element qualifies you to live together as husband and wife under the laws of the land. It is here that you are united forever, becoming one flesh before the Lord and forming a new family unit that, if you are faithful and obedient, will last forever. In this life, this is set unless he asks for a divorce. Eternally, this is like #2 and requires both of you to live up to your covenants. 4. Blessings for children born in the covenant. All children born to the two of you are born under the blessings of the sealing covenant; thus, it is common to say that your children are “born in the covenant.” They are entitled to blessings of the Abrahamic covenant, including: Your children will be heirs of the below blessings regardless of your husbands (or YOUR) choices. a. The gospel b. The priesthood c. Celestial marriage d. Eternal life (see Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 2nd ed. [1966], 13). For details regarding which covenants and blessings go in which category - you'll just have to refer to your wedding day memories (or go back through and sit in on a vicarious sealing). The actual covenants and blessings are one of those "inside the temple only" discussions and so it's not appropriate to spill the beans on a forum.

Hmmm. Spin: Slang. a particular viewpoint or bias, esp. in the media; slant: They tried to put a favorable spin on the news coverage of the controversial speech. So you're asking me for my viewpoint on a subject while asking me to refrain from having a viewpoint? Who's using their beloved critical thinking now? Those things you have mentioned, ie geneologies and the like, are easily reconcilable as Islander says. Try playing telephone sometime. Frankly, the Book of Mormon (and Pearl of Great Price) is the only canon book of scripture that was completely translated by revelation, the Old and New Testaments are chock full of the "errors of men" - that's standard LDS doctrine. The fact remains, however, that the Bible is still the word of God, in spite of those errors.

Thanks Sarik for having a completely defeatist attitude :) No seriously though, while it's true that some people do have "addictive personalities" that give them the problems you describe - it's not necessarily true in every case. It's entirely dependant upon the type of addiction - ie coping mechanisms (like some forms of alcoholism) can easily be changed while chemical addictions (like heroin addiction) are exactly like you say. Regretful - do NOT procrastinate the day of your repentance. If you put this off for even one day no matter what the reason, you WILL regret it. Sarik is right about one thing, the longer you do it, the more permanent the addiction becomes. And your parents WILL find out, and that's assuming they don't already know and just haven't said anything yet (parents are just as susceptible to the "I don't know how to bring it up" syndrome as their kids). If you tell your parents, yes the consequences may be difficult to bear, but you will be better off. By not telling them you are adding deceit to the sin and compounding it very much like David did with Bathsheba and Uriah (oooh same sin too....). So to sum up - get over yourself and start talking NOW. Your bishop can help. Your parents, believe it or not, can also help (and not just by disciplining you). Do it now while it's still easy to quit.

Hence why I'm scowering lds.org and other sites for answers instead of going to bed when I have to get up for work in 7 hours. The gist of what I've read so far is pretty clear - if you don't live up to your covenants, you don't get the blessings - period. To elaborate - the union is not "sealed" on the date of your wedding but is sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise by your obedience AFTER the ceremony. LDS.org - New Era Article - Celestial Marriage is one good read for more info. I've got 8 or 10 more articles but I plan on providing a more detailed summary once I get all these ducks in a row. Finding information on what sealing actually does, apart from a spiffy temple ceremony, is REALLY hard....

That's a nice sentiment but: Doctrine and Covenants 132 39 "David’s wives and concubines were given unto him of me, by the hand of Nathan, my servant, and others of the prophets who had the keys of this power; and in none of these things did he sin against me save in the case of Uriah and his wife; and, therefore he hath fallen from his exaltation, and received his portion; and he shall not inherit them out of the world, for I gave them unto another, saith the Lord." God can DEFINITELY break a sealing. I think the sealing power itself is not well understood among most saints, and it's not well documented even on LDS.org. Some of the other things you mention also don't quite resonate with me either. I have heard that the sealing power *can* help lift someone up who has fallen, but how this is done, under what circumstances it's possible, and how far a person can be lifted are not obvious. After participating in this thread I've been meaning to do some hard core research on just this subject but haven't had the time yet. In any case, as much as we'd like to believe otherwise, without some hard core scriptural evidence, I'm afraid what you have said remains, in my opinion, just theory.

Hi, my name is Puff, and... I'm an addict. > Hi Puff. I've been hooked on porn since I was 12. I'm 25 now. Nasty stuff. I too am trying to clean up before a mission. I applaud you for trying to quit early - by the time you reach my age some of those habits are almost set in stone. It's taken me this long to really decide to quit, and now I've made it harder than it needs to be. There are a lot of things you can do to help. First talk to your bishop. Ask him for one of those addiction handbook things - a short workbook that follows a process similar to (but more generic than) the AA program. Sincerely work through the book. Second, try to determine why you do it. Not all addictions are the same, some are chemical, some are psychological, and some aren't even "addictions" but are more just the results of "idle hands". In my case it's a psychological coping mechanism. The handbook and your bishop can help you figure it out. Third, find an alternative activity that fulfills the need currently filled by the porn. Read a book, play a (good) game, exercise. Make sure through all of this that you have come to a firm realization of what your reasons are. Why do you want to quit? Respect for your future wife. Reverence for the Lord. A desire to be worthy of a mission. Proper motivation is key to staying focused and overcoming. I wish you luck :) Oh, and pray, read your scriptures, go to seminary yada yada. It does help :)

Tizzy - go ahead and ask him if he can make a list of the questions that he has. It's very likely that the missionaries won't have any kind of experience dealing with this kind of thing and so they may not be very helpful. But if he can write down some of his questions, you can send them to me and I'll send you my responses. Writing them down would also be a good exercise for him to help him organize his thoughts and give direction to his search for answers. If he has any trouble writing down or articulating his questions, don't be concerned. He may be looking for answers without even knowing what the question is. Give him some time to struggle with finding the questions; that struggle will help him appreciate and accept the answers when they come. Of course don't let him struggle too long and help him find those questions and once he has the questions - the answers should come pretty quickly. :edit: Misshalfway is right - you do need to be supportive of your husband in his search for answers. Make sure he understands that your fears and concerns are about losing your husband and NOT about his questioning. Stay with him and stay supportive and help him in his search as though you were searching too and you could grow closer from the experience.

I saw one of your other videos - your portfolio. Posted a comment on it :) Planning on doing stunts for hollywood? So if I ever get my head out of my rear and get my mission papers turned in - you're going to be teaching me stuff while I'm at the MTC

I checked your profile - by Portland I assume Oregon? I'm in Colorado and ifyou're randomly close I can recommend a good therapist if you like, and he's a member. The trick is, no counselor no matter how good can help someone who doesn't want to change. A good LDS counselor *could* (maybe, possibly) help your husband see that he's miserable and to see that he does want change. If you can arrange it, I'd be willing to talk with your husband. At the very least you could point him here and have him read my post, though I anticipate it might not get a positive reaction. The truth hurts and I have a habit of not pulling any punches. There's a book I saw, it looked fun and interesting but I haven't yet decided it's worth 20 bucks. "Odds Are You're Going to be Exalted". Look it up. Right up both yours and his alleys.

On the subject: Revelation 8 and Doctrine and Covenants 38

My dad was abusive, physically and emotionally. While I didn't starve (unless I refused to eat my vegetables) I didn't have a very dreamy childhood. My mother had fibromyalgia and coeliac which severely interfered with her ability to protect us kids from our dad's temper. When I was a teenager I was "abused" by my older brother. I was preparing for a mission when my mom died on November 13 2002 in a car accident. On November 17 2002 the woman I loved (and still love - the closest I've ever come to a "soul mate") died in another car accident. I turned 19 on the 24th of November that year. He thinks mormons don't question? Then you're right, he is living in his own little world (ok, so you didn't say that, I paraphrased). I questioned. I searched every other religion I could get information on for answers. I went inactive for a year. The problem isn't asking questions - or even asking the right questions. The problem is having the guts to listen for the answers - and when I did that, guess where they lead me? And now I'm again preparing for a mission. Frankly, it's not often that I find someone who's sob story sounds worse than mine, and I have the impression your husband might be in the mood to compete if I spoke to him face to face. But the fact is that there are a LOT of people out there who've gone through worse <insert expletive here> (one of the few times where one would be appropriate) than he has and have joined the church and found joy in their lives. Tell him to stop being so self-absorbed and to get over himself. It doesn't matter where we've been, what matters is where we're going. Where does he think he's going by leaving (quitting)? :edit: I should append - all of those issues I "should" have from my childhood I have gotten over - with the help of a good bishop and a good therapist. As regards the therapist - 3 months in and out, no pills, and with a church-member discount.

It's a bottle of worcestershire sauce!!!! LOL Ronnie is quite the acrobat, I'm impressed. I'd recommend using a boom mic or lavaliers. Cheapest option just be to redub the audio (if you have decent karaoke software you might be able to isolate the voice layers and increase their volume). And I think temptation needs a little more time to rehearse his scripture reading lines

Rainbow Before Second Coming? - Mormon Apologetics & Discussion Board : Best I could find in a quick search. I'm still looking for the full text of that book (it's not the same one as the current PH/RS manual) but haven't found it yet. :edit: While the above reader on that other forum quoted from a different book, the same quotation appears in our current priesthood manual on page 252 paragraph 4 (I don't have my paper copy handy so I can't guarantee the accuracy of that page number). It's available online at : LDS.org - Support Materials Chapter - The Second Coming and the Millennium under the section "The signs of the Savior’s coming are being fulfilled; the faithful will recognize these signs and have peace in perilous times." about 9 paragraphs down.

What chet said sounds pretty bad - but if you follow the whole discussion you'll find that it was just an example of poor choice of words. And we've given him enough flack for it already. You can feel worthy as long as you are worthy - and the atonement takes care of that. You should NOT be worried about feeling worthy to marry someone in the church, you should worry about finding someone worthy to marry you. As long as you are living worthy now, only the unworthy men would judge you for your mistakes, and you don't want them anyway.

The minority always has the loudest voice. Most non-LDS Christians are great people who most often have no opinion one way or the other regarding Mormons. But the small minority who absolutely hate us are never content to be quiet about it - they have to make themselves heard. It's like Islam. Most Muslims are the nicest people you'll ever meet (I know from experience - nicer than most Mormons too). But the small minority that hate us are the ones catching all the attention.

The constitutional right to vote for the candidate of my choice - a right warped and convoluted inside electoral college mechanics. What it boils down to is that instead of voting for a candidate, we wind up voting for a group of electors in the college who are pledged to support a particular candidate (known as the "short ballot"). This obfuscates the electoral process to the point where we actually don't know who we are voting for as the electors' names never show up on the ballot. To add insult to injury, some jurisdictions (some at the state level, others at the municipal level) have made laws requiring "write-in registration" which by itself is an oxymoron. The end result is that I, as registered voter, never actually cast a vote for a presidential candidate. Technically - the last presidential election was a deadlock in the popular election with 0 votes to each candidate. W00t for democracy.

References? I've always heard that one too, but just because it's "common knowledge" doesn't make it truth or doctrine. Not making that distinction is what has lead to so much confusion in other churches. Granted I think the list, as original posted, is banal and uneducational. However the list was posted in the hopes of improving it with references and doctrinal interpretations. Sounds like a fun exercise to me :) As for what the writers of the NT thought, or what the early LDS leaders thought, I doubt you'll find any conclusive evidence that such ideas were taught or thought by those in leadership roles. Church members individually tend to think radically different things from what the leaders teach (that goes for any church, including our own). You seem to have a driving focus on getting others to "think critically". I'm reminded of the "living challenge" role played by Raja Flattery as the agent/advocate of Ship. But if Ship were Satan, that would make him Satan's advocate, and as has been said before by prophets "Satan needs no advocates".