Prophets: A way God Shows His Love

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Lloyd Christmas
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Prophets: A way God Shows His Love

Post by Lloyd Christmas » Fri Sep 22, 2017 9:50 am

I get emails from the church periodically, and I recently got this one:


Prophets: A Way God Shows His Love

"How blessed we are that the restored Church of Jesus Christ is upon the earth and that the Church is founded upon the rock of revelation. Continuous revelation is the very lifeblood of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

"May we prepare to receive the personal revelation that comes in abundance during general conference. May our hearts be filled with deep determination as we raise our hands to sustain living prophets and apostles. May we be enlightened, uplifted, comforted, and strengthened as we listen to their messages. And may we be ready to recommit ourselves to the Lord Jesus Christ—His gospel and His work—and to live with renewed resolve in keeping His commandments and carrying out His will."

—President Thomas S. Monson


I haven't been to church in awhile, but I like to read these emails every once in awhile. "Modern Revelation is the life blood of the Church." And what Revelation has the Church gotten recently? If Revelation is the life blood, is the Church now part of the Walking Dead?

And I also find the hype the Church places on general conference intriguing. The way it's described here, it would seem like the heavens will open and angels will administer. Reality is a bunch of old men, conducting a corporate like meeting, continuing to proliferate ideas to keep the herd under their control.

Is everyone else getting these emails? I could unsubscribe, but they're kind of entertaining.

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Corsair
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Re: Prophets: A way God Shows His Love

Post by Corsair » Fri Sep 22, 2017 10:45 am

Yes, I also get these emails. Some of them try to get me excited over finding a deceased ancestor that is now eligible for proxy ordinances. Not interested, but I am amused by the marketing efforts.

I also agree that LDS prophets don't really solve any problems except for silly ones they created themselves. It's not like I can go to President Monson and ask for stock trading tips. Nor could I ask for how to solved fundamental encryption problems once likely advances in quantum computing render prime factorization into a trivial exercise. I can't even ask for a complete and systematic answer to the Problem of Evil and Suffering. It's not that there aren't a couple of good possibilities out there, it's that the LDS church and the LDS prophets have not said anything particularly interesting on the matter.

What has revelation by prophets actually revealed lately?

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Palerider
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Re: Prophets: A way God Shows His Love

Post by Palerider » Fri Sep 22, 2017 10:58 am

I'm not saying that true prophets wouldn't be a blessing, they would, if God considered them needed.

But the fact that the church has decided to interpret Matthew 16:13-18 as meaning that "revelation" is the foundation of the Lord's church, actually is a proof that these are not true prophets.

As usual they are cherry picking and giving the scriptures a little twist in their favor.

If one reads the full context of the verses mentioned above it will be seen that it is the identity of the Savior that has become the subject of conversation. And it is the revelation from God that Jesus is the true Messiah which is the foundation of the kingdom. NOT revelation in general or revelation through prophets.

You will note that Peter was able to attain that testimony from God of his own accord without any help from anyone else. Millions of non-Mormons attain it exactly the same way Peter did. Directly from God with Christ being the only intermediary after his death and resurrection.

To set one's self up as a prophet and then fabricate mandatory false ordinances and priesthood as being the only way to Christ and Heavenly Father.....is not a blessing. It is priestcraft.
"There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily."

"Truth will ultimately prevail where there is pains to bring it to light."

George Washington

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moksha
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Re: Prophets: A way God Shows His Love

Post by moksha » Fri Sep 22, 2017 1:00 pm

The last LDS prophecy was announced by President Russell Nelson in February 2016 that children of same-sex couples could not be members of the LDS Church until age 18, and then only after having obtained written permission from the First Presidency and after fully renouncing their parents. It was unclear whether children who were already members would have excommunication charges brought against them.

Of course, this does not meet the requirements of the thread title about showing God's love.
Good faith does not require evidence, but it also does not turn a blind eye to that evidence. Otherwise, it becomes misplaced faith.
-- Moksha

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Hagoth
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Re: Prophets: A way God Shows His Love

Post by Hagoth » Sat Sep 23, 2017 7:23 pm

Awesome first post, Lloyd!
“The easy confidence with which I know another man's religion is folly teaches me to suspect that my own is also.” -Mark Twain

Jesus: "The Kingdom of God is within you." The Buddha: "Be your own light."

Lloyd Christmas
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Re: Prophets: A way God Shows His Love

Post by Lloyd Christmas » Wed Sep 27, 2017 12:25 pm

Thank you Hagoth :) I posted on the old site a couple times, and I lurk on here and enjoy everyones input and conversation. I've very solidly transitioned from my LDS upbringing, and this site definitely helped me transition smoothly.

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dispirited
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Re: Prophets: A way God Shows His Love

Post by dispirited » Fri Sep 29, 2017 7:45 pm

I find their plea for personal revelation disingenuous. They say receive personal revelation, but then if it's contrary to what the prophet has said, yours is from the devil. (Supporting same sex attraction). I feel like I need to support the people who are born gay, but if I do I'm getting false revelation. This is cult like brainwashing.

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sirensong
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Re: Prophets: A way God Shows His Love

Post by sirensong » Sun Oct 01, 2017 8:06 pm

Yes, I still receive emails from time to time. Just this week I got an email because I'm a "superstar indexer". Seriously? I think I did less than 10 names about 4 or 5 years ago. Pretty low standards if that's what it takes to get "superstar indexer" status...
and in the end... the love you take is equal to the love you make...
~lennon/mccartney

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Hagoth
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Re: Prophets: A way God Shows His Love

Post by Hagoth » Mon Oct 02, 2017 6:02 am

sirensong wrote:
Sun Oct 01, 2017 8:06 pm
Yes, I still receive emails from time to time. Just this week I got an email because I'm a "superstar indexer". Seriously? I think I did less than 10 names about 4 or 5 years ago. Pretty low standards if that's what it takes to get "superstar indexer" status...
Hilarious. When you can't guilt people into doing free work for you I guess the next option is to woo them with false compliments. But compared to many of us you really are a superstar indexer, sirensong! And maybe compared to the church membership as a whole. Who knows?
“The easy confidence with which I know another man's religion is folly teaches me to suspect that my own is also.” -Mark Twain

Jesus: "The Kingdom of God is within you." The Buddha: "Be your own light."

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blazerb
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Re: Prophets: A way God Shows His Love

Post by blazerb » Mon Oct 02, 2017 11:50 am

Corsair wrote:
Fri Sep 22, 2017 10:45 am
Yes, I also get these emails. Some of them try to get me excited over finding a deceased ancestor that is now eligible for proxy ordinances. Not interested, but I am amused by the marketing efforts.

I also agree that LDS prophets don't really solve any problems except for silly ones they created themselves. It's not like I can go to President Monson and ask for stock trading tips. Nor could I ask for how to solved fundamental encryption problems once likely advances in quantum computing render prime factorization into a trivial exercise. I can't even ask for a complete and systematic answer to the Problem of Evil and Suffering. It's not that there aren't a couple of good possibilities out there, it's that the LDS church and the LDS prophets have not said anything particularly interesting on the matter.

What has revelation by prophets actually revealed lately?
Prophets in the Book of Mormon helped military leaders know the strategy of their opponents. I don't think anything like that is going on today.

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Corsair
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Re: Prophets: A way God Shows His Love

Post by Corsair » Mon Oct 02, 2017 3:09 pm

blazerb wrote:
Mon Oct 02, 2017 11:50 am
Prophets in the Book of Mormon helped military leaders know the strategy of their opponents. I don't think anything like that is going on today.
Yes. These are the most prominent stories of getting military intelligence from a prophet in the Book of Mormon:
If this is historically true then could this still happen? If not, then why not? One theme of this past weekend was that miracles still occur today. But I have to note that these seem really lame compare with fire from heaven during the Elijah and the priests of Baal incident. The lowered expectations are getting silly.

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