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Thanks for posting. I have studied Martin Luther and I am in awe of what he accomplished and the courage it took to nail the 95 theses or points of contention that he had with the Catholic Church, much of them do not matter today in reference to the selling of indulgences so that St. Peter’s could be built, thus ensuring the release from purgatory of deceased ancestors of those paying for the indulgences so that their ancestors could have salvation. But, what Luther did in translating the Bible into German, the common tongue of the people, was even more revolutionary, and asserting that priests should be permitted to marry, etc. It was heretical to translate the Scriptures that were in Latin into the common vernacular. To do so meant death. I have lamented that Brigham Young basically left the world with another Catholic Church, when I always saw Joseph Smith as a Luther-type person who was always challenging the status quo, and revealed more important truths. I consider myself more protestant in that fact that I love evangelical Christian music such as Jars of Clay, Mercy Me, Casting Crowns, Michael W. Smith, King and country, and Phillips, Craig and Dean. I wish we could rock out at church and sing praises to the Lord. I also have a huge obsession and fascination with the Bible, and would rather read historical/theological books on the New Testament and Old Testament (respectively in that order) than read LDS books on the Book of Mormon, or the Doctrine and Covenants. Thanks for posting. I am glad I am not the only one who has been thinking about it, and I agree with it.
I don’t want to get into too much detail on here. I have messaged some individually where I provided more detail into the gist of what happened. The good news is that I am meeting with the Bishop this Sunday before church. I am a little scared and apprehensive though, since I don’t know whether I will be reprimanded, or manipulated into staying in my calling. Now that I am having a face-to-face with the Bishop, my prior plan must be set aside. I know I will be scrutinized and that I may even be the brunt of some gossip in some circles since the Bishop is not the only one who knows. However, I don’t really care, I am planning on moving out of the ward this year and will start fresh somewhere else. The bishop just gave me a blank stare like what the heak just happened. I have not been contacted about my behavior or my remarks as I left. I am sick of feeling stressed out at church and just see my calling as an extension from my job 5 days a week. It is really sad when your Mondays are better than your Sundays. This is how it has been for a long, long time. I don’t understand how serving in the church turns out so bad. @ Darkjedi. I also think it was a deserved slap in the face to Mr. Romney that Trump got the white blue collar vote. The blue collar man is that man that the Church struggles with even attracting. The Church is seen as a snobby organization thanks to Mr. Romney and Trump totally took the states that Romney could not convert into wins and he did so because he appealed to blue collar folks. Trump made Romney look so pathetic. @ nibbler. I too like Buddhism, I attended a Nicheren Buddhist meeting with a good friend of mine. It was peaceful, very enlightening and I enjoyed the sense of community. Thanks for sharing. I felt like the Church was getting political by telling people to vote for someone that holds their same values. Both Hilary and Trump do not hold the ideals of the LDS faith. I was mad at the Church about this. I was also mad that the Church wants us to take in refugees unconditionally and give money to them. This was a general conference talk. I’m sorry America cannot save the world, and even though President Uchtdorf was a refugee, he had similar cultural and religious beliefs to Americans. I think the Church is crossing it’s political neutrality and may have its tax exempt status taken away for this if it keeps it up. Definitely don’t give in to doing more. I want the church marginalized in my life, but I have a somewhat hefty calling that I just want to be released from already. I have to spend 5 hours at church when I only want to spend 1 hour at church. I go to church for my kids and to keep my wife happy, but I am not too happy at Church. I would just reiterate what you stated the last meeting and keep your line in the sand and don’t get manipulated into “doing more” than you are comfortable with. I have not done home teaching in awhile and I also told my Home Teachers not to come since after a year they are not my friends, are insencere and I would rather them not waste my time. I’m waiting for a new EQP before I resume my HT, one of my HT families went holier than thou on me and I butt heads with him and the other family is less active and I don’t blame them for being that way since I want to go inactive. Just stop home teaching; stop doing it, and enjoy life. Do it if you feel like you need to or want to, but I haven’t done my HT in awhile. I might drop of some “gift” for Christmas just to remind them that I am their HT family and if they need anything they can give me a call. That is my attitude about it. Questions I have about the film: Is Rey the offspring of Skywalker? My hints are desert planet she is left on. Her name can be a world play the Spanish for “king” since her aunt was a princess (Leia), and it also works for Ray of Sun since the sun is in the sky, the root word for Skywalker.
Is Supreme Leader Snoke dark Plagueis?
Is the Jedi Temple that Luke went to look for on the Island that Luke is on?
Why did Kylo-ren turn to the darkside, and whey did Kylo and the Knights of Ren kill the others (younglings) Luke was training?
How did Moz end up with Luke’s lightsaber that Luke lost on Bespin when his hand was cut-off?
These are the questions I hope are answered in the subsequent films. I’ve seen the film twice, and I think it was better than the prequels, better than a New Hope, and Jedi. The New X-wings are awesome. I like how Finn was a storm trooper and defected. I liked to see the empire from the insider’s perspective. The New Storm Troopers look better than the old ones.
The problem I have with the way Mormonism is presented is that it is the complete Christian Church, perfect, and only true Church on the Face of the Earth. okay so I believe, or know JS experience is true, but what does that do to me as an individual? i used to be real in tune in prayer, where I felt God envelope me with his presence, and now I just feel like he isn’t there, or if he is, he is just letting me do things the way I want and will come in when I really screw up. Is that where I am at in my spiritual development? I am in the bearing the cross stage, but even then Jesus prayed to the Father throughout Gethsemane and the Cross on Golgatha. I envy my Buddhist friend who does good continually, and is very intelligent, and would give me the shirt off of his back. How do I become like him? I am a selfish person who seeks out my own self-interests since I subscribe to survival of the fittest. I will serve others on my terms, and when I am available. I guess if you wanted to be a reductionist. you could say that scripture was intended for JS, but perhaps doesn’t pertain to me. Does my friend pray to find truth or does he just know what truth is when he experiences it? I think this would be a great conversation with him about how he knows truth, and how it can be attained, and distinguished from error. There are logical approaches to this. Even JS had to logically evaluate each sect of Christianity against what the Bible said about Jesus’ Church. So there had to be faith and belief in the fact that the Bible was true as so much JS could understand it. Yet sometimes I read the Bible and think there is too much background I don’t know about so it is hard to understand what it is saying. I don’t know the audience that Paul wrote to. I don’t know who exactly he wrote to and what the circumstances were that prompted the writing. We can speculate and attempt to get close to that, but sometimes we don’t know and we may never know completely. I believe James was on his high horse as the presiding authority in Jerusalem and he address this epistle to the entire house of Israel. I believe that is significant. But, to theologians like Marin Luther, who despised James because it focused on works when Luther was a sola gratia (grace alone)kind of guy. Does James 1:5 make me a better person, or do I have to work on that myself that is my dilemma with James 1:5. Thanks for the posts. I appreciate your comments. The update is: I am still working like a dog, and have focused my attention on some historical fiction. I really like the books by Steve Berry. I have taken a break from pursuing anything at the moment. I have picked up the guitar and taken to the piano (which was my first major in school) that I changed b/c I got bored of practicing beyond 5 hours a day. I am centering some attention at the moment as a distraction, I know it is only a temporary band-aid but It is helping me cope with my mid-life crisis that I am in. I am feeling a little healthier. I am taking some supplements and don’t feel as much joint point as I used to. Note to self: Don’t skateboard like you are twenty-three when you are forty it just will hurt you more. I have readjusted until I come up with new goals. I will see what happens. I am taking it one day at a time. That’s good you had a good Sunday. I bit my tongue a lot today and only had to go home during Church once today to finish laundry and to re-adjust my attitude, I then returned and Church was fine after that. I talked Baseball with guys in the quorum and that was fine. I find myself happier at church if I don’t tune in too much to the lessons and take everything with a grain of salt. @ Silent Dawning, Quote:Also, don’t expect religion to help you get out of the apparent rut you are in. I don’t personally expect God to help me. I leave myself open that he will, and believe he often intervenes in ways that I am not aware of, but my mantra is constant pressure on problems through hard work. And in spite of my high expectations of others, I have low expectations from God. Otherwise, I feel this vacuum when I pray and nothing happens immediately. But the hard work — that’s like a magnet that eventually attracts the help you need. As Steven Leacock, the Canadian Humorist once said “the harder I work, the luckier I get”.
I appreciate these words. I am feeling the same way as well about God. I know much of it is up to me, I just think I got off track somewhere, and I don’t know where. I am already acquainted with the Strenghts Finder 2.0. I have the following 5 core talents/abilities: Achiever, Context, Input, Connectedness, and Responsibility. I am a hard worker and I am always wanting achieve, that is why I have been on the quest for a Ph.D. in the social sciences/humanities. I have a history B.A. and an M.A. in anthropology. I wrote a MA thesis dealing with the anthropology of religion.
I started out on the wrong foot deciding to pursue a JD instead of a Ph,D, but wasn’t pleased with my grades and my end goal, so I quit law school. I have applied to Notre Dame and Duke for anthropology and history programs respectively. I think my problem with applying to Notre Dame was that my interests were misaligned. I hit it off with the religion faculty, but not with the anthropology faculty. (There is a divide between anthropology and the classicists). I wanted to apply anthropology to the study of religion much like Marvin Harris did in his work
Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches, but cultural materialism has become an outdated theory in the filed of anthropology. For Duke’s history program I have been teaching myself Portuguese to study the rise of Evangelical Christianity in Brazil. I am still awaiting confirmation whether I wasn’t considered because one of my letter writers dropped the ball. I don’t even know if the professors on the evaluation/admissions committee that I contacted even looked at my application, and writing sample. I have applied to schools that I know have strong programs and great professors, and that are reasonable to live at with a large family. For these reasons I was applying to those schools. I have taught one college course in Anthropology where I did quite well, I just filled in for a professor who had to leave for a semester. I would like to teach part-time at least two nights a week and just keep my day job if I cannot pursue a Ph.D. I’m just frustrated since I put in a lot of work wanting to teach history, anthropology, or religion since I have been teased into teaching, but then it seems like I’m getting older and the opportunities are fleeting. I have been doing research in areas that I am interested in. I have filled up flash drives with journal articles and book reviews, and notated things and have even began drafts of papers that are inchoate at the moment. I almost want to hang it all up, and go deeper into business and study accounting since I know I can at least make money in that. I currently work at a law firm and work in accounting, barely making a livable wage.
As of 11/14/2014, according to the Salt Lake Tribune “New change allows young moms, divorced members to teach Mormon seminary.” Divorced and remarried worthy members may become seminary teachers for the first time. Additionally, female teachers who have children may remain as seminary teachers. This is awesome that the Church has finally changed its policy on these issues. I am happy, I don’t know what to do about it now knowing I am in a different career. I still will think about what could have been, but at least I know that Divorced people should not feel as marginalized as I had felt. I think it goes back to the early days when I wanted to be at church and got a lot out of it. Feeling the Spirit was an electrifying experience. I would even be motivated to attend more meetings than the Sunday block and would even be motivated to do good in the world and community. Now, I just feel I exist at Church and everything is matter-of fact an ho hum-watching the paint dry.
