rameumptom

For those without callings, they can make their own "callings". Visit the shut ins. Go out with the missionaries. Do family history. Mow the lawns of the families they home teach. Share the gospel online. Volunteer to help the Scout troop.

For those without callings, they can make their own "callings". Visit the shut ins. Go out with the missionaries. Do family history. Mow the lawns of the families they home teach. Share the gospel online. Volunteer to help the Scout troop.

For those without callings, they can make their own "callings". Visit the shut ins. Go out with the missionaries. Do family history. Mow the lawns of the families they home teach. Share the gospel online. Volunteer to help the Scout troop.

Some of us have worked hard over the years to inoculate the members, especially the youth. I know I've spent countless hours over the past 15 years editing and writing articles for FAIR, More Good Foundation, MillennialStar, and my own blog, trying to bring the Church to light, and bringing its more difficult historical and doctrinal issues to light in a faithful manner. I am so very pleased to see the Church handle many of these things in an official manner, and to actively use those materials to help the next generation deal with questions and doubts in a positive and faithful way.

Stephen O. Smoot reviews the new Institute Manual on Church History, which includes Plural marriage, and many other issues of interest. It also has a section on handling one's doubts.
 
Smoot's article can be read here at the MormonInterpreter.
 
 
Teacher's manual is online here.
 
 
 

For those without callings, they can make their own "callings". Visit the shut ins. Go out with the missionaries. Do family history. Mow the lawns of the families they home teach. Share the gospel online. Volunteer to help the Scout troop.

We do it because God loves torturing certain men, who clearly needed a major attitude adjustment.  

I see it from the perspective of the Savior, who told the Nephites:
 
 
I fear the Day of the Gentile is now past, or soon to be.  Israel (including the Church) will gain in strength, with the elect flocking to the Old and New Jerusalems (Jerusalem and Zion).  The Gentiles will be scattered.  Only those who repent will have refuge.
 
Are we, as a people, ready to follow President Monson and the 12 Apostles through whatever danger we may be led, so that we can establish Zion?

I see it from the perspective of the Savior, who told the Nephites:
 
 
I fear the Day of the Gentile is now past, or soon to be.  Israel (including the Church) will gain in strength, with the elect flocking to the Old and New Jerusalems (Jerusalem and Zion).  The Gentiles will be scattered.  Only those who repent will have refuge.
 
Are we, as a people, ready to follow President Monson and the 12 Apostles through whatever danger we may be led, so that we can establish Zion?

I see it from the perspective of the Savior, who told the Nephites:
 
 
I fear the Day of the Gentile is now past, or soon to be.  Israel (including the Church) will gain in strength, with the elect flocking to the Old and New Jerusalems (Jerusalem and Zion).  The Gentiles will be scattered.  Only those who repent will have refuge.
 
Are we, as a people, ready to follow President Monson and the 12 Apostles through whatever danger we may be led, so that we can establish Zion?

I see it from the perspective of the Savior, who told the Nephites:
 
 
I fear the Day of the Gentile is now past, or soon to be.  Israel (including the Church) will gain in strength, with the elect flocking to the Old and New Jerusalems (Jerusalem and Zion).  The Gentiles will be scattered.  Only those who repent will have refuge.
 
Are we, as a people, ready to follow President Monson and the 12 Apostles through whatever danger we may be led, so that we can establish Zion?

I see it from the perspective of the Savior, who told the Nephites:
 
 
I fear the Day of the Gentile is now past, or soon to be.  Israel (including the Church) will gain in strength, with the elect flocking to the Old and New Jerusalems (Jerusalem and Zion).  The Gentiles will be scattered.  Only those who repent will have refuge.
 
Are we, as a people, ready to follow President Monson and the 12 Apostles through whatever danger we may be led, so that we can establish Zion?

Alex Boye, LDS entertainer, rocked it on America's Got Talent tonight.  I met him in 2004 at the FAIR Conference, and have watched him develop his great talent since. It is exciting to see him excite the crowds with his song "

Justification through the blood of Christ makes us sinless. We become eligible for a kingdom of heaven. We are rescued from death and hell.
 
Sanctification is a process through both the blood of Christ and the Holy Ghost. It is not an all or nothing, but a progression. We may be sanctified to a telestial, terrestrial, or celestial level. As we repent and learn to be Christ-like, we are made holy to ever greater levels. The Holy Spirit of Promise seals us to levels of holiness. It is nothing we earn. It is something we become as the Spirit changes us. We have that "mighty change of heart" that King Benjamin speaks of, changing us to ever higher levels of holiness until we become perfected/completed in Christ.

Justification through the blood of Christ makes us sinless. We become eligible for a kingdom of heaven. We are rescued from death and hell.
 
Sanctification is a process through both the blood of Christ and the Holy Ghost. It is not an all or nothing, but a progression. We may be sanctified to a telestial, terrestrial, or celestial level. As we repent and learn to be Christ-like, we are made holy to ever greater levels. The Holy Spirit of Promise seals us to levels of holiness. It is nothing we earn. It is something we become as the Spirit changes us. We have that "mighty change of heart" that King Benjamin speaks of, changing us to ever higher levels of holiness until we become perfected/completed in Christ.

I loved the performance.  At first I was thinking....whoa...why THAT song? It's not really going to showcase his powerful voice.  But it was so entertaining, joyful and energetic.
 
I was really curious to hear the judges' response.  I was so happy that they all REALLY liked the performance.
 
But I am a total dork.  When I first read that he was going to be on the show, I was thinking...guest artist, right?  Because I'm thinking everyone has heard of Alex, right?  Like I said, I am a dork.
 
Whether he wins the whole shebang or not, I am hoping that this opportunity helps bring his musical career to the next level.  So that he can do what he loves and so that more people have the opportunity to enjoy his music, his story and his testimony.

Stephen O. Smoot reviews the new Institute Manual on Church History, which includes Plural marriage, and many other issues of interest. It also has a section on handling one's doubts.
 
Smoot's article can be read here at the MormonInterpreter.
 
 
Teacher's manual is online here.
 
 
 

Stephen O. Smoot reviews the new Institute Manual on Church History, which includes Plural marriage, and many other issues of interest. It also has a section on handling one's doubts.
 
Smoot's article can be read here at the MormonInterpreter.
 
 
Teacher's manual is online here.
 
 
 

Justification/Sanctification isn't a one time thing. D&C 93 tells us that Christ went from grace to grace receiving grace for grace. So it is with us. We go from one level of sanctification to the next, reflected in the ordinances we receive.
 
Through Justification and Sanctification, we are made sinless and holy.  Both are required for us to first escape death and hell, but also to arise through the heavens and into God's presence.
 
To the level we are sanctified/made holy, we are able to rise through the heavens. Mormon 9:3 tells us that the wicked would be more miserable in God's presence than with the damned souls in hell.  This is not because God would make them miserable, but they are miserable in God's presence.
 
In relating Alma 36 and Alma's conversion, he has a near death experience (NDE) in the spirit prison. He is miserable, hating the thought of being in God's presence.  Why? Because, though he cannot see it, he IS in God's presence, as God's presence is felt everywhere.  When he repents, he is suddenly justified through Christ's blood and made sinless. His misery becomes joy, as the darkness within him dispels and he is able to see and enjoy the light of God. Yet, he is not fully sanctified/made holy, and can only see God from a distance, wishing to be closer.
 
You can see my discussion on Alma 36 in the BoM Sunday School lessons I did a few years ago at my blog, and here at LDS.net 

TFP, I think Finrock is hinting at whether you've had your calling & election made sure.  That's an interesting aspect I hadn't really considered--assuming Joseph's and the scriptures' statements about David's losing his exaltation are accurate, are they accurate because David committed murder per se?  Or are they accurate because David committed murder after having had his calling and election made sure (see, e.g., D&C 132:19, 26)?  (And, do we even know that David did have his calling & election made sure?  I rather suspect he didn't.)

Stephen O. Smoot reviews the new Institute Manual on Church History, which includes Plural marriage, and many other issues of interest. It also has a section on handling one's doubts.
 
Smoot's article can be read here at the MormonInterpreter.
 
 
Teacher's manual is online here.
 
 
 

JAG, haven't seen one yet. Hope we'll see one soon.

I am not certain about exaltation, per se.  I think it is possible. But then, I do believe in progression between kingdoms (as did Elder Talmage), and so do not have a problem with a murderer spending a few thousand years repenting and changing until he is ready for a full inheritance as an exalted being.  
 
However, some have insisted that David would not and could not rise above the Telestial Kingdom, and in that I disagree.

In regards to the Prodigal Son, let's remember that parables are imperfect depictions of a teaching. Can one totally squander away the inheritance the Father offers us?  Except for rejecting salvation or exaltation, can we not repent and still be eligible for these?
 
God's inheritance is one that once given is not suddenly no longer available. It seems to be more like knowledge, it can be shared time and again without any loss.  Otherwise, Christ would be the only one to inherit anything. Instead, we find that we are "heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ" (Romans). 
 
We assume the prodigal son receives no inheritance. Yet, if he is brought back into the Father's house, given a party, and is not a servant, has he not received a form of inheritance (whether complete/full or not is beside the question).  All we know is the Father is giving all he has to the older son - yet it seems he has enough and to spare in handing out inheritances.
 
If a person spends his life in riotous living, and does not murder, then rejoins the Church a couple months before his death (or becomes active), has he lost his inheritance? Why come back to Church? If one "squanders away" the entire inheritance and then repents, how does one obtain the telestial kingdom? Is that not an inheritance, or at least a portion of one?

PC,
 
read Alma 36. Alma has a Near Death Experience, where he begins in Spirit Prison and moves to Paradise. You'll note that he is in God's presence, but from a distance, wishing he could be closer.
 
Also note that in D&C 76, it states that those in higher kingdoms will descend to teach those in the lower kingdoms.