How to testify

Lds Church News ^ | Sept. 19, 2009

[Colofornian]

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Sharing testimonies is an important part of the Latter-day Saint experience. We bear testimonies in many settings — in the home with family and among friends and associates or in missionary experiences. In Church, one Sunday is set aside every month for the bearing of testimonies during sacrament meetings.

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In his address at the October 2004 general conference, Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve...said that his experience throughout the Church leads him to worry that too many members' testimonies linger on "I am thankful," and "I love," and too few are able to say with humble but sincere clarity, "I know." As a result, he noted, meetings sometimes lack the testimony-rich, spiritual underpinnings that stir the soul and have meaningful, positive impact on the lives of all those who hear them.

He...counseled, "We need to replace stories, travelogues and lectures with pure testimonies. Those who are entrusted to speak and teach in our meetings need to do so with doctrinal power that will be both heard and felt, lifting the spirits and edifying our people."

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As we listen to general conference this October, we will hear many bear pure testimony. Numerous times over the years, we have heard President Thomas S. Monson, first as an apostle and now as president of the Church, bear such testimony. May we, as Primary children sing, be inclined to "follow the prophet" in our endeavor to nurture, strengthen and share our testimonies that we have a Heavenly Father who loves us, that Jesus is the Christ, Joseph Smith was the prophet who was raised up to restore the fullness of the everlasting gospel...

[DelphiUser]

And who would that be to?

Incomplete sentences show incomplete thinking.

I assume you are asking who I pray to (as if it's not God) well I pray to the God of Abraham, and of Jacob and of Issac. I could go into more detail, but I think that is the clearest answer anyone can give.

[MHGinTN]

Chicken droppings are fertilizder. Now, whine that one to the moderator.

[colorcountry]

You have a good point, can you pray for me to be more willing to ask for prayers from others?

Will do! I have a heart for Mormons, even (especially) you. :)

[colorcountry]

Thank you for reminding me. :)

[MHGinTN]

Matthew 6:5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

[DelphiUser]

GZ: My, my du, talk about me without pinging me, poor decorum 'ol chap, one would almost think you are being less than Genuine here.

I apologize, I believe as a Christian you should be forgiving, I mad ea mistake and I am sorry, will you forgive me?

GZ: That is OK, because I know that the Holy Spirit has opened your eyes to see in Joseph Smith the wolf and not the sheep's clothing for perhaps the first time in your life.

Huh? My testimony of the Book of Mormon and thus Joseph smith is completely unaffected by you, it's not based on you, or even on "logic" but a direct answer by God. I submit that it is not logical for God to care about me enought to save me from anything, his love for me is not logical.

I must say I find it amusing that you think that you have had a greater effect on me as an anonymous poster on a forum on the Internet, than God has had in my life with direct personal communication. Just in case you are still wondering, nope!

GZ: Perhaps you should review 1Ki 18:27, for all your efforts.

First Kings 18:27

27 And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked.

God has answered my petition to him in a direct, personal and perfect way. There was no miscommunication, and the witness I received was of Both the Book of Mormon and Jesus Christ, thus it meets the requirements set forth in the Bible as a message that can only come from God.

Lurkers, I testify to you that God lives!, you too can know he lives, pay, pray about all the words of God, pray about anything that might even be the word of God, let him guide you and you will in nowise be led astray. If you follow me, or Godzilla, or anyone without seeking God's guidance you are in danger of being misled. Pray, please, and since I have had it pointed out that I need prayers, can you pray for me too? Thanks!

[DelphiUser]

Will do! I have a heart for Mormons, even (especially) you. :)

Thanks CC, I really appreciate it.

[DelphiUser]

Matthew 6:5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

So you should not offer to pray for someone in public because... then you have your reward...

So what if I am not seeking a reward, but to actually help someone?

I guess you are having a hard time imagining a Mormon actually wanting to help someone. Hmm, that must be a miserable way to be... I just added you to my prayer list!

Have a blessed Day!

[Elsie]

Godzilla, I feel you have been less than Genuine in your arguments here on this thread...

I've TOLD 'im over and over not to do this!!

Would you PLEASE point out to the lurkers just WHAT the un-genuine parts are?

I have a lot of work to get done and do not have the time.

--MormonDude(Joseph Smith 'learned' things about PRESBYTERIANism that PROVED it was UNTRUE. Just don't ask me was they were.)

[MHGinTN]

Take care that you slide not into pretending for the ‘last worder’ effect ... God is not mocked.

[Elsie]

 

When the mormons begin to honestly show their tendency to compare Joseph Smith to Jesus,

you can see the cultic brain-washing come out for all to see.

 

 

     

• Single charismatic leader.
• People always seeming constantly happy and enthusiastic. Especially if you discover that they have been told to act that way for the potential new recruits.
• Instant friends.
• If you are told who you can or cannot talk to or associate with.
• They hide what they teach.
• Say they are the only true group, or the best so why go anywhere else.
• Hyped meetings, get you to meetings rather than share with you.
• Experiential rather than logical.
• Asking for money for the next level.
• Some cults travel door to door during times when women are home alone. They think that women are easier to recruit and once they have the woman then it will be easier to snare the husband or partner.
• Saying that they have to make people pay for it because otherwise they will not appreciate it. This is of course a very silly reason, plenty of people are able to appreciate things which they did not pay for.

   

[Elsie]

The appeal to lurkers to take the BOM "test" shows the desperation involved.

I suggest that MORMONs take the D&C 132 'test' to see if GOD has rescinded what HE requires.

[Elsie]

It seems that some of the antis just can't stay on topic,

Here's a good topic:

What did Joseph Smith LEARN was UNTRUE about the PRESBYTERIANism of his day?

[Elsie]

Does the Spirit direct you to use foul language?

Galatians 5:12
As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!

[Elsie]

Of course, a lot of things have changed around here, maybe that’s one of them.

Yup; we ANTI's ain't taking the LDS' Organizational® line lyin' down any more.

[PA Engineer]

No joke. Your Key Point warnings made me think of the Democratic Party.

[Godzilla]

I apologize, I believe as a Christian you should be forgiving, I mad ea mistake and I am sorry, will you forgive me?

Are you truely asking for forgiveness, or are you excusing yourself? I let your little exchanges about me, without pinging me, go a while to gauge your sincerity. I know you know the decorum of pinging. You switched your tactic to make it personal toward me instead of addressing the issues presented. Was it a deliberate act? When confronted by others, your responses show that seeking forgiveness from me was not on your agenda - until challenged by myself personally. Deflecting the issues away from your inability to respond to them and try to make it the arguement about another FReeper. This too you know is verboten.

I must say I find it amusing that you think that you have had a greater effect on me as an anonymous poster on a forum on the Internet, than God has had in my life with direct personal communication. Just in case you are still wondering, nope!

Never claimed that I did, I stated specifically that the Holy Spirit. Your reactions tell the rest of the story.

There was no miscommunication, and the witness I received was of Both the Book of Mormon and Jesus Christ, thus it meets the requirements set forth in the Bible as a message that can only come from God.

The requirements 'cited' here are once again 1 John 4. Notice the failure to address "try" (dokimadzo), the absence of which, and the reliance upon subjective interpretation of any 'answer' calls to mind Jesus' words in Mk 13:22 For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if [it were] possible, even the elect. Never will you see mormon apologists addressing dokimadzo or the context in which John was writing (combating Docetic heresy), they just like to flit to a verse and call it what they may. Test mormonism to the standard - the Bible - and you (along with millions and millions of others) will come away with the same answer, joseph smith was a false prophet and the book of mormon is fiction.

Lurkers, I testify to you that God lives!, you too can know he lives, pay, pray about all the words of God, pray about anything that might even be the word of God, let him guide you and you will in nowise be led astray.

Which God DU? earlier you cited the 'God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob'. Were you refering to the singular God Jehovah? or another god?

[Godzilla]

Yep, they fit mormonism like a glove into hand. In this case it fits, so you must convict.

[DelphiUser]

Would you PLEASE point out to the lurkers just WHAT the un-genuine parts are?

Have you seen the size of his posts?
The pharisees asked Jesus similar questions, like him, I'll just say "to him that eyes to see, let him see."

[DelphiUser]

Take care that you slide not into pretending for the ‘last worder’ effect ... God is not mocked.

Not knowing exactly what you mean by this, I could go several directions:

I mocked (and am currently mocking) you, do you think you are God?

I mock antis all the time, do they all think they are God?

Are you saying there is a slippery slope into Godhood? (I don't JFTR)

Please speak in complete sentences with clearly defined articles and objects if you wish to be understood. As I said before, incomplete sentences show incomplete thinking.