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| Friday, May 24, 2013 |
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- Faith Promoting Rumor
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- Flooding the Earth With the Book of Mormon
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- Old Testament Blog
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- Zelophehad's Daughters
I’ve been busy in the Bloggernacle for a year and a half. I’ve enjoyed my experience. There is much to learn and many good things here. I am troubled though–there seems to be a lack of interest and understanding regarding the availability of the “things of the Spirit” the Lord is willing to provide us, if only we would diligently seek for them. When I first came to the Bloggernacle I testified of my experiences with the things of the Spirit with the hope of finding others who I could both share with and learn from. To my surprise and disappointment I was rebuffed or ignored by nearly everyone. It seems strange to me that there are so few in the Lord’s church who are interested in following the teachings of the Book of Mormon regarding the Doctrine of Christ. We are a church that teaches and believes in the gifts of the Spirit, remission of sins, visions, dreams, ministering of angels, and etc, but if someone testifies of these things they are labeled odd, and rejected. Now I anticipate that someone will immediately drag out the old and worn out idea that we’re not supposed to share sacred experiences. I think this is a cope-out in most cases. It is one thing to give details of sacred experiences to draw attention to yourself, but it is another thing to testify of these things to build faith in Christ. I’m glad that Nephi, Alma (older and younger), Amulek, Enos, and many others shared their testimonies of the availability of the manifestations of the Holy Ghost so that we can learn. I am not being critical or negative, I am making an observation. I’ll leave the following scripture for all of us to ponder on: Alma 33:16. |
I agree with Jared. For what it’s worth, I recently had an instructive dream/vision about kissing Hitler. Closed mouth, but still pretty hot. |
I agree with gst and Jared. I had a dream the other night about how participating in the Bloggernacle is a lot like how a cucumber becomes a pickle. You start out, you know, like, green and fresh. Then you go through a pickling process with salt, water, and other herbs. Then, bam! there you are: a pickle. Can anyone else relate to that? |
Tagore, I like cucumbers, especially with a bit of French dressing, but I really HATE pickles. What does that mean for my eternal prospects? |
Grim, arj. Grim. |
arJ, So there may be hope for you eternally. |
I had a dream the other night in which someone complained because he kept posting wacky dreams and visions and nobody took them seriously or was particularly enthusiastic about them. Then that person took a shotgun to their office. And that person was Patrick Swayze, with Point Break beard. |
Sam B., I HATE pickles. Why would I try more pickles? Pickles have ruined my sandwiches since I could eat sandwiches. In fact they ruined one just this week. If someone is making them at home then Homeland Security should be informed. And yes, growing up homemade pickles were the only pickles in our house. Especially the mustard pickle thing. That is like a Ball Jar of death. |
I had a dream recently in which I posted recipes for Chicken Enchiladas on a post that had nothing to do therewith. I followed the recipe, ate the enchilada, and it tasted like pickle in my mouth. I’m pretty sure this means I’ll be called to be bishop or nursery leader. |
Boys, be careful about your dreams. You don’t want to make your little factories work overtime. |
Wow! Any of you related to Zeezrom? Well, there is hope, Zeezrom made it. Of course, he had to pay a big price. I take it that some of you don’t care for pickle parables. Maybe you like parables about pearls and swine. |
Jared, |
Don’t listen to John C., Jared. He’s lying. He probably has only 2 or 3 onti, and there’s no way he’s planning to give them to you. |
Fellow followers of Christ- tongue in cheek aside. I just want to say that each of us can draw near to the Lord and be lead by the hand if we desire. I’ve put the Lord’s promises to the test for over 40 years and have not found them wanting. I’ve been at it longer than most of you and started with two strikes against me. The Lord left the 99 and came and rescued me and I am trying to be a witness to the mercy He extended to me. I may be clumsy at it, but I am doing what I can because I count Him my friend. In spite of all the difficulties we see in His church it is true and the promises are sure–this I know. |
Jared, I think I am safe in saying that most of us believe as you do, we’re just not so serious and single-minded as you are. I like sharing my testimony when appropriate, and have done so many times, but the nacle is about getting to know people as much as anything else. I think you just need to lighten up a bit and cast your pearls a little more sparingly. |
To answer the question in the OP, I have to say, as I’ve said before, that the nacle was a revelation to me when I stumbled on it two years ago (or so). It provided a place that I never knew existed and satisfied a deep need I never knew I had. I need to be able to discuss the issues we talk about here and there is just no other place to do it. I love it dearly and not just because it strengthens my testimony to read what all of you have to say, but because I really laugh hard almost every day, and that’s almost as valuable. I feel like I have a lot of great friends, many of whom I have never met. Thanks to all of you for hanging around here and contributing to this wonderful, weird thing. |
MCQ well said. I have enjoyed the company of the Bloggernacle since late 2004. You all have enlighten my understanding of so many areas of the Gospel. I appreciate the diversity of opinions. I may not agree with some of you, but I have been enriched by your viewpoint. You make me smile and that is good medicine for the soul. Jared follow me over to M* to see my post on an example of the loving hand of God in my life. |
“What, if anything, has improved in your Church or religious practice because of reading the Bloggernacle?” I don’t know if Church or religious practice has ‘improved’ because of the Bloggernacle – but I feel due to the discussions that I’ve observed and participated in, in the Bloggernacle, I understand more about the Church than I did previously. I don’t even know if I have more final answers to questions I had previously – but in dealing with those same questions I have more material and viewpoints to ponder than I did previously – and I genuinely feel that is helpful to me personally. My testimony was strong previously to the ‘Nacle – but now it’s more grounded and rounded, so to speak. |
I have certainly been able to laugh, cry, and think much more deeply about issues since I have been reading others thoughts. In addition, it has been fun getting to know the various personalities online… |
I don’t know what to make of the first 15 comments, but I appreciate the rest of them. |
I dreamt that Bruce willis fell in love with me and he didn’t care that I was old and gray and flabby and not Demi. And I don’t even like Bruce willis. I mean, I don’t dislike him, but I don’t have a crush on him or anything. The bloggernacle has fed my soul in countless ways the last however many years it’s been. And made me feel not quite so “other” in this LDS religion that has little room for “others.” |
The Bloggernacle is the closest subsitute for AA in my life right now. |
yeah, me too. |
The influence of this post on society will be measured by number of commencement speakers next spring who conspicuously omit telling the new graduates to follow their dreams. |
Yeah, the ‘nacle has helped me be a little more tolerant of differing viewpoints within the church. Church members aren’t the big monolith that I previously thought. Some of the bright lights and seasoned-in-the-gospel folks have inspired me. Many of the characters and world-travelers have entertained me. Some of the tragic stories have let me know that I don’t have it so bad, and make me a little more appreciative of what I do have. (And no, that’s not the same as schadenfreude. I don’t take delight in others’ misfortune.) |
The bloggernacle brought me back from the brink. Like Bookslinger, I found out members of the Church weren’t a Republican, PG movie only monolith like the two wards I’d lived in after I was married. |
This is one of the top threads ever. It’s perfect, too. It captures what I like best about the ‘nacle. |
