Marriage Divorce and Being Born Again

[Guest Kamperfoelie]

Hey there,

Im new here, and dont quite know what your beliefs are. I was raised in an atheist home, and found Christ through televangelism at a later age. or obviously Christ found me :)

At the time i found Christ, i was civilly married, to a woman who i do not wish to slander by name but could probably be best descibed using the words pitchfork and forked tongue...

Suffice to say that we have since been divorced and she has tried her hardest to make our child's life miserable, and mine but that is of lesser concern.

I would like to know the views on certain matters?

Do you believe in being born again?

How about the sanctity of a civil marriage if it was conceived before a person's being born again? and with the other party being an atheist?

What are your views on backsliding? And if some really bad things are done when a person has?

Are there any LDS groups in Europe (netherlands)? I ve had a quick look around but couldnt find any.

Well that was a whole lot of questions hope you can fill in some of the blanks.

Greetz!

[Misshalfway]

Hello. And welcome!

Born Again: Yes. Absolutely. Our understanding of what this means may differ slightly from traditional Christianity, But yes. We believe in this mighty change of heart and disposition that happens when one comes to Christ. We don't necessarily believe that this process is confined to one event.

Sanctity of Marriage: We uphold the concept of marriage between a man and a woman. We wouldn't condemn a marriage of two people who may affiliate differently. We would encourage all the principles that would make that marriage strong. We would hope that perhaps both could be invited to come to Christ. But there are many marriages like this amongst us and we support all of them in their choice to be together. We do believe in Eternal marriage. That is for those of our faith who want to be married for time and all eternity. We also perform marriages just for time. (This needs more explanation I know. This is just an intro....)

Backsliding: If by this you mean sinning, then that is an easy one. When a person sins or makes a sinful mistake, we teach and encourage that person to repent. To acknowledge and feel sorrow for the deed and then to take steps to make restitution and ask for forgiveness. Then God forgives and remembers the sin no more. All of us are human and flawed and so we all practice repentance to continually keep our lives in harmony with the teachings of the Savior. Did I understand your question correctly?

Yes there are many groups in Europe. I am not sure about the specifics in the Netherlands. I am sure someone else on this site can direct you.

[Guest Kamperfoelie]

Thank you for your swift response,

if i may i would like to ask some further questions

(if you would prefer to converse through email rather than publicly or to engage in a chat feel free to add me on msn ([email protected])

your answer was very much towards the point of an eternal marriage, one to last a lifetime and beyond. which of course i would wish on anyone, providing of course they are married to the person they should be married to.

my question concerns the contrary to this, namely to your position on divorce? Especially since it has already taken place in the past, it is of some interest to me to know how this is viewed.

As for the backsliding and born again issue, i was indeed referring to the sin commited after being born again. I understand from your response that you feel the salvation through christ is renewable so to speak.

I would also have some more well.. probing questions into the more specific details of your faith. if that is okay? I will hold off the asking untill you either indicate you feel alright with a public question or perhaps prefer a prescreening through direct mail or some other channel.

Thank you again for your kindness in answering my questions

[skalenfehl]

This forum is the perfect place to ask your questions. There are many good, willing folks here ready to answer your questions and make a new friend. Welcome to the site.

[Guest Kamperfoelie]

I ll take that as an okay to fire away:)

Pls understand im not well versed on your faith, and would like to ask well bluntly a few things.

I gather it is not done to take in caffeine alcohol or the like. I m not even sure this is true, but if so why? I ve heard it is to preserve the 'natural state of the mind'. which leads me to wonder how this applies to the mentally ill that need to be medicated for medical reasons? or is it like the way some religions refuse to ear pork: that it is unclean for some reason?

Then, and this is the question i m finding a bit awkward:

Like the muslims claim to accept the truth of the old and new testament, but have an 'extra' addition brought later by a prophet who came after the Christ, so do i gather that you accept the truth of both the old and new testaments, but again with an extra addition, brought by a prohpet after the time of the Christ.

The question I have:

If you accept the truth of both the old and new testament, then you also accept the Christ as the perfected son of God, and his works as the completed works of our salvation. What then is the 'added value' of another prophet? After the son of God has already brought us the teachings, and gave us salvation?

I apologise if i'm being confrontational but I would like to know

[Elgama]

ugh ok i have apparently handled a previous thread on this badly - when talking about my religious beliefs I tend to be quite personal because they are very much so - so no intention to offend you at any point here goes lol

There are very definitely members of the church in the Netherlands and at least a couple of big wards as two members from my branch have married Dutch members and moved there. I am in North Scotland - there are members across Europe

I'll write more tommorrow its bedtime lol

-Charley

[Misshalfway]

Hello. I don't mind questions in the least!!! I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed:lol:, but I would love to give a shot at answering.

Let's talk divorce. Divorce happens. It happens in our church. It is sad when it happens. We very much want to preserve marriage. And very much discourage divorce. But in cases of abuse or neglect or other like circumstances, it is understood that divorce may be the safest and best option. Sometimes people simply make mistakes...or one partner chooses a different road. It happens and we deal with it. There is no punishment from the church. Only a deep desire to keep marriage together. We counsel our young people to be cautious about who they choose... to be prayerful and honest. We hope that our children will marry in the faith. In the case of a divorce, the church has a sister organization (LDS Social and Fam Services) to counsel families and help to heal those involved. On the balance, we do the best we can with this painful and complex issue. Many of our leaders have spoken to it in what we call conference addresses. You can visit the church's official website, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and search under 'divorce' to gain more insight into official positions and counsel.

Drugs and Alcohol: We have a health code that promotes healthy eating, sleeping, and nutritional practices. We believe that our bodies are our stewardship and we are to take care of them. This code is called "Word of Wisdom". It is found in the 89th section of the Doctrine and Covenants. You can search this on the official website under -scriptures-. We don't drink coffee or tea and we avoid addictive substances such as alcohol and drugs. We do use drugs medicinally under the direction of a Dr.

Prophets: We believe god follows a pattern for revealing information to us. Amos 3:7 Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. We believe that as part of Christ's mission on the earth, he organized his church on the earth and called 12 prophets.... or Apostles to lead the church after he had risen to the Father. Those prophets were killed and the church fell into apostacy. We believe (short version) that the church needed to be restored to the earth. God again started calling prophets. Joseph Smith is the first prophet called in this dispensation. We have a modern day "Peter" and 12 Apostles that are special witnesses of Christ for the current times.

Value of Prophets: Well, it works much the same way it did at the time of Moses. Moses goes to the mountain to converse with the Lord. He comes back with info/commandments for the people. It is wonderful to have constant revelation for the needs of our day and times. The people of old didn't have the evils we do today. Our current prophet performs that same function. He is a man and not perfect, but when he speaks in the name of the Lord, it is as if the Lord were here saying it Himself. Our leaders do world wide conferences twice a year. The talk for two days. Their words are then published in the church magazine and distributed. With such a modern day and world wide effort, we need God to guide and direct this church so we don't go astray.... as they say.

I hope that helps a little.

[WillowTheWhisp]

May I just add on the subject of Prophets, or men who speak to us on behalf of God. There are such men in the Bible who were after the life death and resurrection of Christ. Paul in fact did not meet Jesus Christ during his earthly life and yet he is one of the greatest teachers about Christianity, so quite clearly prophets did not end with the coming of Jesus to the earth.

If you wonder about the Book of Mormon and if it teaches something different to the Old and New Testament which are both very important scriptures to us in the LDS church then the answer is no, it does not. It teaches about the people who lived on the American continent and those who lived before Christ had some of the Old Testament scriptures on which their religion was based. After his resurrection Jesus visited these people and taught them the same things he taught during his ministry in the Holy Land.

[Guest tomk]

Hey there,

Im new here, and dont quite know what your beliefs are. I was raised in an atheist home, and found Christ through televangelism at a later age. or obviously Christ found me :)

At the time i found Christ, i was civilly married, to a woman who i do not wish to slander by name but could probably be best descibed using the words pitchfork and forked tongue...

Suffice to say that we have since been divorced and she has tried her hardest to make our child's life miserable, and mine but that is of lesser concern.

I would like to know the views on certain matters?

Do you believe in being born again?

How about the sanctity of a civil marriage if it was conceived before a person's being born again? and with the other party being an atheist?

What are your views on backsliding? And if some really bad things are done when a person has?

Are there any LDS groups in Europe (netherlands)? I ve had a quick look around but couldnt find any.

Well that was a whole lot of questions hope you can fill in some of the blanks.

Greetz!

Do you believe in being born again?

Yes. But that rebirth leads us to greater devotion and commitment, it's not an invitation to "rest on our laurels" so to speak.

How about the sanctity of a civil marriage if it was conceived before a person's being born again? and with the other party being an atheist?

Marriage is sacred, but only temple marriage results in exaltation, and then, only if both parties are faithful.

What are your views on backsliding? And if some really bad things are done when a person has?

We're all human. We're here to see if we will do all things which Father commands us. The Lord is faithful and will forgive, but He requires a broken heart and a contrite spirit.

[Iggy]

<<snip>>

Are there any LDS groups in Europe (netherlands)? I ve had a quick look around but couldnt find any.

Go to mormon.org then put in the country.