Hype for April 2019 Conference

[Hamba Tuhan 7,655]

26 minutes ago, hope_for_things said:

This is a perfect example of moving the goal posts.  

I don't know what you're talking about. This is my first time addressing this issue.

Quote

Also, I can’t think of any scriptures that say you should be looking for a group of people that have apostles and prophets and that’s how you’ll know you’re on the right path in life.  

2 Kings 17:13

Yet the Lord testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.

2 Chronicles 20:20

And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.

2 Chronicles 24:19

Yet he sent prophets to them, to bring them again unto the Lord; and they testified against them: but they would not give ear.

Nehemiah 9:26

Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great provocations.

Jeremiah 35:15

I have sent also unto you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers: but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto me.

Amos 3:7

Surely the Lord God will do nothing, abut he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.

Matthew 10:41

He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward.

1 Corinthians 12:28

And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.

Ephesians 2:19-20

Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;

1 Nephi 7:14

For behold, the Spirit of the Lord ceaseth soon to strive with them; for behold, they have rejected the prophets, and Jeremiah have they cast into prison. And they have sought to take away the life of my father, insomuch that they have driven him out of the land.

2 Nephi 27:5

For behold, the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep. For behold, ye have closed your eyes, and ye have rejected the prophets; and your rulers, and the seers hath he covered because of your iniquity.

Alma 37:30

For behold, they murdered all the prophets of the Lord who came among them to declare unto them concerning their iniquities; and the blood of those whom they murdered did cry unto the Lord their God for vengeance upon those who were their murderers; and thus the judgments of God did come upon these workers of darkness and secret combinations.

Helaman 13:24

24 Yea, wo unto this people, because of this time which has arrived, that ye do cast out the prophets, and do mock them, and cast stones at them, and do slay them, and do all manner of iniquity unto them, even as they did of old time.

It sounds like, to the Lord at least, there's a direct link between prophets and knowing the right path.

Beyond all this, what proportion of all scripture was recorded by prophets?

 

[sheilauk 969]

2 hours ago, Hamba Tuhan said:

I'm single. I'm not seeing the disaster. My housemate and I have already formulated a plan for weekly study (since we both work irregular hours) and just finished our second session this past Tuesday evening. Our stake presidency have just concluded speaking in all of the wards, urging those who are assigned to minister to singles to make sure they have suitable plans in place. This can, of course, include inviting them into our homes -- something my housemate and I plan to do in the new year when we start the formal curriculum.

I still visit those I'm assigned to minister to monthly (or very close to it). I also still receive monthly (or close to it) visits from my ministering brothers, though our last 'visit' consisted of the three of us going out for dinner at a fantastic buffet together (my request). We also invited some other single males to join us, and we played cards as we ate -- a great night and just what I needed!

Hamba, you are a great example!   However,  I share some of why me's fears.  In my ward and stake I think most singles live alone and don't seem to interact with each other much.   One of the things I want to do through the stake is encourage them to get together.  I've asked the stake high council to consider what to do.

And,  in the ward, the ministering programme isn't done very well by the sisters or brothers. Even as home and visiting teachers, visits were sporadic and still are (I confess I'm part of the problem).  Reasons vary,  but I'm aware our singles are not well served. Not that many complain.  I'm not sure what to do about it.  I have suggested encouraging the singles to stay after church for a while to study together.  Since I've just been called as RS secretary, maybe I'm now in a situation where I can do something!  And I should fulfil my own ministering duties of course. 

[Duncan 5,341]

1 hour ago, Gray said:

The christian community was organized in churches in the 50s. But that's after the time of Jesus.

how do you know? who was Paul writing the epistles to?For example Paul didn't establish the Church at Rome but somebody brought the Church there for him to write to them

Edited December 14, 2018 by Duncan

[10THAmendment 0]

On 12/12/2018 at 7:28 AM, JLHPROF said:

Who gets to decide which revelations are non-essential?  Or which ordinances instituted before the foundations of the earth and cannot be changed can actually be changed?

 

The First Presidency and the 12 I imagine. That's who has periodically taken Masonic signs and rituals out of the endowment over the years.

[The Nehor 19,339]

1 hour ago, Gray said:

No, it's not just used for anything. That's not how historical Jesus studies works. There are actual rules to this stuff.

We know Jesus was a disciple of John and that John baptized in Jordan. So it wouldn't be out of place for Jesus to preach baptism as well, although his focus was different than John's.

I know they apply it for what they believe to be good reasons. I just do not trust their judgement.

[rodheadlee 2,128]

The amusing thing is the same people that say the church spends its billions incorrectly are now saying we never really needed a church that was formally organized so we wouldn't even have billions to spend incorrectly. How does that work?

[Duncan 5,341]

Forget the early Church, The Church has put out new videos on the Temples, quite descriptive if you ask me

 

[Hamba Tuhan 7,655]

2 hours ago, sheilauk said:

In my ward and stake I think most singles live alone and don't seem to interact with each other much. One of the things I want to do through the stake is encourage them to get together. I've asked the stake high council to consider what to do.

What do you mean by 'through the stake'? I think I would just encourage them to get together. Maybe plan something at mine and then invite people.

Quote

And,  in the ward, the ministering programme isn't done very well by the sisters or brothers ... Reasons vary,  but I'm aware our singles are not well served. Not that many complain.  I'm not sure what to do about it.  I have suggested encouraging the singles to stay after church for a while to study together.

Again, I think you should just do it. Find one person and invite her/him to join you. Have a great time. People are attracted to good things.

Edited December 14, 2018 by Hamba Tuhan

[Duncan 5,341]

One calling they could ditch is Mission President Counselour, what do they even do? or Stake Sunday School could go, if the High Councilor over that actually does something with the calling, keep that and ditch the SS Presidency

[Hamba Tuhan 7,655]

18 minutes ago, Duncan said:

One calling they could ditch is Mission President Counselour, what do they even do?

In missions that have branches that don't belong to stakes or districts, the mission presidency is the ecclesiastical authority over those branches. Counsellors to the mission president then serve just like counsellors in a stake or district presidency. I've twice lived in independent mission branches, and both times we were pretty much ignored. In one branch, we were more than 3,000km away from the mission office. An annual box of lesson manuals was our most obvious link. In the other branch, the mission president visited one time to call a new branch president. I was serving in the old branch presidency at the time (and served in the new one), so I was interviewed. He asked me what more he could do for our branch. I pointed out to him that I did financials (tithing, etc.) each week using forms in the language of the mission but not the language any of us spoke. He was shocked and promised he'd fix that. Our next lot of forms came; no change.

So maybe you have a point ...

[The Nehor 19,339]

2 hours ago, sheilauk said:

Hamba, you are a great example!   However,  I share some of why me's fears.  In my ward and stake I think most singles live alone and don't seem to interact with each other much.   One of the things I want to do through the stake is encourage them to get together.  I've asked the stake high council to consider what to do.

And,  in the ward, the ministering programme isn't done very well by the sisters or brothers. Even as home and visiting teachers, visits were sporadic and still are (I confess I'm part of the problem).  Reasons vary,  but I'm aware our singles are not well served. Not that many complain.  I'm not sure what to do about it.  I have suggested encouraging the singles to stay after church for a while to study together.  Since I've just been called as RS secretary, maybe I'm now in a situation where I can do something!  And I should fulfil my own ministering duties of course. 

As a Single who does not attend Singles activities I do not think getting them together is the answer. 90% of them are people I do not want to spend time with.

 

[Hamba Tuhan 7,655]

2 minutes ago, The Nehor said:

As a Single who does not attend Singles activities I do not think getting them together is the answer. 90% of them are people I do not want to spend time with.

Amen and amen! I'm quite selective at this point. We have some recent converts we'll be extending invitations to. And then we'll seek revelation.

[Hamba Tuhan 7,655]

On 12/13/2018 at 1:28 AM, JLHPROF said:

Who gets to decide which revelations are non-essential?  Or which ordinances instituted before the foundations of the earth and cannot be changed can actually be changed?

The same people who got to decide that the 'everlasting covenant' of circumcision was non-essential.

[Hamba Tuhan 7,655]

1 hour ago, rodheadlee said:

The amusing thing is the same people that say the church spends its billions incorrectly are now saying we never really needed a church that was formally organized so we wouldn't even have billions to spend incorrectly. How does that work?

You surely didn't expect criticism to be logically consistent, did you? When one's goal is to beat up on the Church of Jesus Christ, literally any brickbat will do.

Edited December 14, 2018 by Hamba Tuhan

[Duncan 5,341]

14 minutes ago, Hamba Tuhan said:

In missions that have branches that don't belong to stakes or districts, the mission presidency is the ecclesiastical authority over those branches. Counsellors to the mission president then serve just like counsellors in a stake or district presidency. I've twice lived in independent mission branches, and both times we were pretty much ignored. In one branch, we were more than 3,000km away from the mission office. An annual box of lesson manuals was our most obvious link. In the other branch, the mission president visited one time to call a new branch president. I was serving in the old branch presidency at the time (and served in the new one), so I was interviewed. He asked me what more he could do for our branch. I pointed out to him that I did financials (tithing, etc.) each week using forms in the language of the mission but not the language any of us spoke. He was shocked and promised he'd fix that. Our next lot of forms came; no change.

So maybe you have a point ...

here we kinda have that.....but the MP has to travel several hours to give TR interviews or his counselour and I am like why don't they get someone closer? if they trust someone to be in a District Presidency then why don't they trust them to give a TR interview? If it's about keys then the MP gives his keys to the counselour to interview but if he can do that they why not give them to someone in the district presidency? If you give them to one then why not another?

[Hamba Tuhan 7,655]

1 hour ago, Duncan said:

Forget the early Church, The Church has put out new videos on the Temples, quite descriptive if you ask me

One thought: the original meaning of the word 'to endow' is 'to clothe'. The conflation of 'endowment' with 'gift' is a later linguistic development. I like that history!

Edited December 14, 2018 by Hamba Tuhan

[why me 1,763]

6 hours ago, Hamba Tuhan said:

I'm single. I'm not seeing the disaster. My housemate and I have already formulated a plan for weekly study (since we both work irregular hours) and just finished our second session this past Tuesday evening. Our stake presidency have just concluded speaking in all of the wards, urging those who are assigned to minister to singles to make sure they have suitable plans in place. This can, of course, include inviting them into our homes -- something my housemate and I plan to do in the new year when we start the formal curriculum.

I still visit those I'm assigned to minister to monthly (or very close to it). I also still receive monthly (or close to it) visits from my ministering brothers, though our last 'visit' consisted of the three of us going out for dinner at a fantastic buffet together (my request). We also invited some other single males to join us, and we played cards as we ate -- a great night and just what I needed!

You are very lucky. You also have a housemate. I was referring to people who go home to an empty house who must do without an hour of church and perhaps never see their new ministering brothers. Also, visiting teaching is history. People now have more freedom not to call at all or visit people. And I would assume that this happens more than not. These changes have to do with giving people more time to be with their families and have less responsibility. And many people are happy about this. As they should be. But still the singles will suffer from a lack of fellowship. However, we will see what the future will bring and what will happen. People are living in more isolation because of social media. And there seems to be less opportunities to have well meaning contact with people. My only concern is for the single person who goes home from work and is alone and is told to study more themselves and all will be well.

Edited December 14, 2018 by why me

[Hamba Tuhan 7,655]

4 minutes ago, why me said:

People now have more freedom not to call at all or visit people. And I would assume that this happens more than not.

I haven't seen anyone in my ward who was a faithful home or visiting teacher become less faithful as a ministering brother or sister. I sincerely doubt this is the case anywhere.

[Avatar4321 3,577]

12 hours ago, SouthernMo said:

Faith is a gift. 1 Corinthians 12:9

I don’t think it’s helpful to criticize people for not having the gifts you might have.

I stand in good company

[Avatar4321 3,577]

7 hours ago, The Nehor said:

As a Single who does not attend Singles activities I do not think getting them together is the answer. 90% of them are people I do not want to spend time with.

 

I understand that, but is it possible t hat not getting together to socialize is one of the reason some of you are single?

[Avatar4321 3,577]

6 hours ago, why me said:

You are very lucky. You also have a housemate. I was referring to people who go home to an empty house who must do without an hour of church and perhaps never see their new ministering brothers. Also, visiting teaching is history. People now have more freedom not to call at all or visit people. And I would assume that this happens more than not. These changes have to do with giving people more time to be with their families and have less responsibility. And many people are happy about this. As they should be. But still the singles will suffer from a lack of fellowship. However, we will see what the future will bring and what will happen. People are living in more isolation because of social media. And there seems to be less opportunities to have well meaning contact with people. My only concern is for the single person who goes home from work and is alone and is told to study more themselves and all will be well.

Perhaps the people who are lonely should do their ministering assignments. Whether your ministering or being ministered to you should have some way to reach others

Edited December 14, 2018 by Avatar4321

[The Nehor 19,339]

1 hour ago, Avatar4321 said:

I understand that, but is it possible t hat not getting together to socialize is one of the reason some of you are single?

If the other option is marrying one of the people there I dodged a bullet.

[Thinking 1,487]

I thought there was an unwritten rule that members weren't allowed to start speculating about April conference until after the new year.

That said. I wish Nelson would disavow Hinckley's opinion about the number of earrings a woman is allowed to wear.

Edited December 14, 2018 by Thinking

[The Nehor 19,339]

6 minutes ago, Thinking said:

I thought there was an unwritten rule that members weren't allowed to start speculating about April conference until after the new year.

That said. I wish Nelson would disavow Hinckley's opinion about the number of earrings a women is allowed to wear.

President Packer left that out of the unwritten order of things.

We can worry about earrings after Adan-ondi-ahman.

[clarkgoble 4,999]

On 12/13/2018 at 8:43 AM, HappyJackWagon said:

Good stuff. Thanks for sharing.

This sounds a bit like plagiarism  

Nearly everything I write is a paraphrase of something. (When I am wise and check my facts before posting - I always regret it when I don't) I just don't bother to always reference the things I look things up. A forum isn't a term paper. There's no way I, or anyone else, could list every reference influencing our view. I only post links if the extended article is of interest to those in the discussion. The time constraints alone make full references impossible.

In this case though it really was my own words and not a paraphrase. Although I did check the seven rules from this website to make sure my memory was right:

http://www.yashanet.com/studies/revstudy/hillel.htm

 

Edited December 14, 2018 by clarkgoble