Ask a Mormon a question!

[Comprehend]

First their is a belief in something or someone then there is action.

Belief in God will determine our actions... If we believe in God we will naturally try to do His will and not our own. If we don't believe in God we will naturally serve ourselves and miss out on the rewards of Heaven..

This is why I said "absolutely belief determines what kingdom we'll enter into" yet a more accurate statement would be "absolutely belief plays a big role in determining what kingdom we'll enter into".

So your right, belief alone cannot determine which kingdom we'll enter into but it is a big factor in my opinion....I know we shouldn't get into the trap of thinking all we have to do is believe, because we both know that works are required, but the Lord also looks upon the heart and sees our desires, if we don't get it all together before we die....

For instance my cousin committed suicide the day before his missionary farewell.... Is he condemned for eternity for committing such a sin ??? I doubt it...Will he be given a chance to repent and change his thought patterns and behaviors, Yes....

God is merciful and will look upon our hearts and will determine our desires and reward us accordingly to both our works and desires to do good. For instance if we didn't get the chance to get it all right here on earth but wanted to keep improving throughout the eternities...God will look at what we've done (works) and then look at what we want to do (desires) and then reward us accordingly.

Remember there are 3 degrees within the Celestial kingdom in which we can continue to progress...

I would not venture a guess as to what God will decide, but personally I think that is a dangerous view point.

I think one can only progress to a point in the bottom two levels of the celestial kingdom. only the highest level can one continue without end.

 

[Comprehend]

Romans 3: 23

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

so you mean if we fall short of the impossible? That doesn't make any sense.

 

[Comprehend]

We cannot be saved in the Celestial kingdom without saving our dead first. This is scriptural and is a commandment given to us to us from our prophets past and present, specifically they have told us to do at least 4 generaltions or at least all the ancestors who have been deceased less than 100 years, because of laws which prohibit the LDS church from accessing these records and submitting them to the temple although people do it all the time, I mean they submit names of people who have not been deceased for more than a hundred years. But anyway we should not rely on the church to do our ancestors, if we do that they may never get done. They are already swamped with names as it is...

yeah, I know all of that. I have all of my geneology done past 8 generations. Both sides of my family were pioneers. I am still pretty sure there is no geneology covenant in the temple.

 

[FFH]

yeah, I know all of that. I have all of my geneology done past 8 generations. Both sides of my family were pioneers. I am still pretty sure there is no geneology covenant in the temple.

Yeah, same with my side of the family, I just helped my wife, who is a convert, do hers. Impressions came very strong that If I didn't help her with her geneology that things in my life would come to a halt until I did...It is of the upmost importance in my opinion....but people like you and I don't really have any people that need to have any work done...and you would know if you did have some work that needed to be done because the spirit would incessantly haunt you, and hunt you down, until you do the work that needed to be done, that's how I got involved, and it becomes a joy to do it, for some reason, and not a chore.

 

[FFH]

FFH and jonny - Thank you! for taking the time to answer and recognizing that I really was asking questions to learn.

No problem, I'm just amazed that anyone would even want to ask questions given the poor attitude we tend to generate, which seems to deter most from asking further questions. Why we do this I don't know, possibly it has something to do with a lack of a deep knowledge on our part, I mean we get frustrated because we don't have all the answers and that tends to show through in our attitude and we take it out on others for not knowing what we ourselves should know. Okay enough of the psychoanalyzing, it's just good to have you back...You seem pretty laid back and well grounded in your faith. We can learn from each other..Iron sharpens iron so to speak..

So far you are one of the few (that reminds me - I haven't seen Shadow lately ) who recognize I'm not trying to attack the mormon religion by asking questions about the church's teachings. I really, sincerely appreciate that.

Again, no problem, it's the least any of us can do is give you a chance to be heard without judging or assuming the worst, although we have had some bad scuffles with people here on the forum so we may tend to be a bit skiddish.... So you'll have to forgive us okay? Most of us here have just been burned a few times...so we tend to be jumpy...can't really think of a word to describe the mood...

A couple more questions came up after reading your debate with comprehend. But it's just not important enough to me to put up with the snide remarks and condescention, which in the past have only led to more blatant ad hominems.

I completely understand. We tend to be exclusive of other religions, which really hurts us because we miss out on learning about other faiths/religious cultures so similar to our own in so many ways, yet we see only the differences.

It brought up a couple more questions, but in the interest of keeping the peace, I decided to drop it as it was obvious my questions are being taken as a challenge or possibly an attack on the mormon teachings. Obviously and unfortunately, my next line of questions ended up raising hackles as well.
Meanwhile - this expanded answer actually answered one of those questions:

We'll try not to be so defensive or so on guard...but it seems as soon as we let our guard down then we get burned...so that may explain the snide attitude you've been getting just because of past experiences, just don't take it personally okay it takes time to build trust across denominational lines.

I like the sour twizzlers

Yeah, their hard to resist, although Walmart sells an awesome black licorice which is made with Molasses and corn syrup in stead of sugar, which is awesome, and no halucinating side affects at night. I forget the brand name, it's just the generic Walmart brand. Just look for the only other licorice sold at Walmart next to the Twizzles

Choctaw (Native American) transliteration of Ursus Maritimus (aka Polar Bear aka Seagoing Bear) and also happens to be the name of my little boat
As far as I know, it's spelled correctly as it came out of the Choctaw-English dictionary my dad has

Cool, do you have any Native American blood in you. My wife claims she may have some Native American blood in her from eastern Canada where her ancestors migrated to and possibly mingled with American indians there.

 

[FFH]

So you mean if we fall short of the impossible?

It's interesting because we speak so much of works yet our own scriptures also emphasize grace.

How can we reconcile grace with works ??? Grace and works go hand in hand. Without works there is no grace and without grace there are no works. For instance would we even continue on if we thought we were condemned for our imperfect works ??? That will sink in later I think....

2 Nephi 10: 24

Wherefore, my beloved brethren, reconcile yourselves to the will of God, and not to the will of the devil and the flesh; and remember, after ye are reconciled unto God, that it is only in and through the grace of God that ye are saved

2 Nephi 25: 23

For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.

Mosiah 27: 5

Yea, and all their priests and teachers should labor with their own hands for their support, in all cases save it were in sickness, or in much want; and doing these things, they did abound in the grace of God.

 

[Bishka]

*waves*

Hey guys. This thread really isn't for us. It's for the non-members.

If we want to debate something, let's use our private LDS forum!

Thanks.

 

[Comprehend]

*waves*

Hey guys. This thread really isn't for us. It's for the non-members.

If we want to debate something, let's use our private LDS forum!

Thanks.

sorry, it's my fault. I was curious where FFH was getting his ideas from. I didn't mean to start a debate.

FFH - as far as snowbear goes, your psychoanalysing was way off in my case. I knew where she was going after the first question and was just getting bored waiting for the real one so I suggested she skip to it. I am confident in my knowledge of the gospel and was looking forward to discussing her issue so your guess as to a lack of "deep knowledge" was wrong if it was about me. Also, snowbear could have proven me wrong whenever she wanted but instead threw a fit, I think the real problem is I guessed right about where she was going and felt embarrassed when I said it for some reason.

 

[SoyLeche]

sorry, it's my fault. I was curious where FFH was getting his ideas from. I didn't mean to start a debate.

FFH - as far as snowbear goes, your psychoanalysing was way off in my case. I knew where she was going after the first question and was just getting bored waiting for the real one so I suggested she skip to it. I am confident in my knowledge of the gospel and was looking forward to discussing her issue so your guess as to a lack of "deep knowledge" was wrong if it was about me. Also, snowbear could have proven me wrong whenever she wanted but instead threw a fit, I think the real problem is I guessed right about where she was going and felt embarrassed when I said it for some reason.

For the record - I think your analysis of the situation is wrong.

 

[porkchop]

Don't let it get to you, Becky. We've done our best, and that's about all we can do. Sometimes it's a mistake to push the issue. As much as we would like to be able to present our beliefs in a way that will be understandable to people, sometimes it just doesn't happen. At this point, I'm inclined to let Snowbear see if she can find answers to her questions elsewhere.

This pettyness of yours and Beckys is really not becoming, i feel like im in the playground watching a couple of bullys. Is this the way you two really wanna represent your religion?
Does it bother you or any other mormon that all the mormons i have met(outside of the forum and on the forum) have come across arrogant? It is very off putting when you wish to have a discussion or a debate.
You say you think of everyone as your brother and sister, is this how you would treat your own?
It makes me sad to see this kind of behaviour is displayed even on the internet, so sad.:no:

 

[FFH]

FFH - as far as snowbear goes, your psychoanalysing was way off in my case. Iknew where she was going after the first question and was just getting bored waiting for the real one so I suggested she skip to it. [

I know, I've done the same thing in other threads. We can see where a conversation is heading and we cut it off by getting to the point, but maybe we can both learn something by discussing it a little deeper.

I am confident in my knowledge of the gospel and was looking forward to discussing her issue so your guess as to a lack of "deep knowledge" was wrong if it was about me.

I haven't even read your conversation with Snowbear so it wasn't about you specifically or anyone else it's about all of us we all do it....I haven't even read half the stuff on this thread because it's usually about the same stuff, it just seemed Snowbear was a little different, you know not the same scenario of questions....

Also, snowbear could have proven me wrong whenever she wanted but instead threw a fit, I think the real problem is I guessed right about where she was going and felt embarrassed when I said it for some reason.

Again, I've done the same thing over and over and am trying not to second guess people who ask questinns. I think Snowbear is a bit different...but it's interesting because a guy I work got right to the pont and pointing out the main difference between Mormons and other Christians is the whole works/grace debate which comes up 9 times out of 10, but once we got past that, or discuss it a little deeper, there were other things that came up which have been discussed on the forum. It's interesting how things on the forum come up in the work place and by being on the forum we can sharpen our answers to questions when or if they come up. For instance the nthing shall be added after Revelation issue came up and with any question, such as this, either I had a good answer, I didn't want to discuss it again, or I didn't really have a good answer, or just forgot the answer because it's been a while... In my case It had been a while and had forgotten the answer which had been discussed so many times at church, but with so many different conflicting answers.....

Personally I think John was talking specifically about people adding to the book of Revelation because from what I understand the book of Revelation was not actually the last book written. Even if he was warning against adding to the Bible, we have not done that in any way, but have left it the way it is and have only received revelation as to the missing or incorrect parts...but this is seen as adding to...or because we simply have "another Bible," as they say, and/or additional scripture

 

[Bishka]

This pettyness of yours and Beckys is really not becoming,

I was trying to be nice and everyone takes my comments as being rude, upset. etc. I'm trying to answer peoples questions and trying to be polite. Guess that's what I get.

 

[Comprehend]

I think she asked what she wanted to ask.

in that case she recieved answers to all of her questions. I still think it was quite obvious where she was going. All I said was lets just skip to that part and talk about it.

 

[Comprehend]

I know, I've done the same thing in other threads. We can see where a conversation is heading and we cut it off by getting to the point, but maybe we can both learn something by discussing it a little deeper. I haven't even read your conversation with Snowbear so it wasn't about you specifically or anyone else it's about all of us we all do it....I haven't even read half the stuff on this thread because it's usually about the same stuff, it just seemed Snowbear was a little different, you know not the same scenario of questions.... Again, I've done the same thing over and over and am trying not to second guess people who ask questinns. I think Snowbear is a bit different...but it's interesting because a guy I work got right to the pont and pointing out the main difference between Mormons and other Christians is the whole works/grace debate which comes up 9 times out of 10, but once we got past that, or discuss it a little deeper, there were other things that came up which have been discussed on the forum. It's interesting how things on the forum come up in the work place and by being on the forum we can sharpen our answers to questions when or if they come up. For instance the nthing shall be added after Revelation issue came up and with any question, such as this, either I had a good answer, I didn't want to discuss it again, or I didn't really have a good answer, or just forgot the answer because it's been a while... In my case It had been a while and had forgotten the answer which had been discussed so many times at church, but with so many different conflicting answers.....

Personally I think John was talking specifically about people adding to the book of Revelation because from what I understand the book of Revelation was not actually the last book written. Even if he was warning against adding to the Bible, we have not done that in any way, but have left it the way it is and have only received revelation as to the missing or incorrect parts...but this is seen as adding to...or because we simply have "another Bible," as they say, and/or additional scripture

yeah, I saw it the other way. Snowbears line of questions was the same tired old thing I have heard dozens of times. It goes like this: - so do you think that a prophet who prophecies something that isn't fulfilled is a false prophet? - oh, so tell me about ______ prophecy that prophet _____ made? doesn't that make him a false prophet? blah blah blah.

 

[SoyLeche]

in that case she recieved answers to all of her questions. I still think it was quite obvious where she was going. All I said was lets just skip to that part and talk about it.

I think one of the main problems with the LDS posters on this forum is that we tend to immediately think that anyone who posts anything about the LDS church is going to be antagonistic - so we act accordingly. There is a reason for this - we have dealt with antgonistic people many, many times, so we project that onto everyone else. I have fallen victim myself to this many times. It leaves a bad taste in the mouths of everyone else.

If she wanted to go anywhere else with it, she would have. All you did was alienate her. That didn't help anyone at all.

 

[Comprehend]

I think one of the main problems with the LDS posters on this forum is that we tend to immediately think that anyone who posts anything about the LDS church is going to be antagonistic - so we act accordingly. There is a reason for this - we have dealt with antgonistic people many, many times, so we project that onto everyone else. I have fallen victim myself to this many times. It leaves a bad taste in the mouths of everyone else.

If she wanted to go anywhere else with it, she would have. All you did was alienate her. That didn't help anyone at all.

sorry. I will try to be nicer next time.

 

[Booko]

*** MOD POST ***

Just to let you know, some personal remarks have been edited out and delted from this thread. There were quite a few, so I thought it would be just as well to notify everyone in this mod post instead of individually.

Please as you post in this area, remember this is a DIR forum, and as such it's not a place to "challenge" ideas as it would be in a debate area. As the rules state (italics mine):

10.) Asking respectful questions of other religions is acceptable in their Individual Religion forum.

As a final note, please consider it's usually not a good idea to refer to other users and psychoanalyze them, even with the best of intentions, because it tends to encourage flames.

The mod team has decided not to reopen this thread, as the conversation has moved on anyway.

And if anyone wants to open threads on new individual subjects they'd like to ask about LDS, this is the forum to do it!

Thanks for your attention!