How to testify

Lds Church News ^ | Sept. 19, 2009

[Colofornian]

SNIP

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.

SNIP

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."

SNIP

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...

[Religion Moderator]

If any of you have questions about the Religion Forum guidelines, just ping me or send me a Freepmail.

"Making it personal" can occur in three ways: by reading the mind of another Freeper personally, by attributing motive to another Freeper personally and by making the thread "about" individual Freepers.

That guideline does not apply to groups of believers, religious authorities, deities and authors who are not Freepers.

For instance, if a poster said that Wiccans want to run the EPA that would not be "making it personal" even if the poster he is pinging is a Wiccan.

Try to debate arms length or academically. When in doubt, check your use of pronouns before pressing "post."

From here on, everyone on this thread should stop making the thread about individual Freepers and instead discuss the issues.

[DelphiUser]

Thanks, I try so hard to be entertaining, I’m glad to see it worked for you.

[DelphiUser]

As I have said on many a topic many times, the trinity is the problem, and it is the one substance part of the trinity that is the problem in the Trinity.

Now go start your own thread if you want to go into detail, I’ll come over and play.

[Elsie]

Hey Jimmy!

I was at your sister’s place in Gulf Shores this spring!

[Elsie]

First you continue to castigate me for something I have asked forgiveness of...

That's alMOST the word...

[Elsie]

As I have said on many a topic many times, the trinity is the problem, and it is the one substance part of the trinity that is the problem in the Trinity.

Gosh...

...a LOT of denom's believe in that Trinity thing: you'd think JS would have 'learned' that THEY were UNTRUE as well.

To paraphrase a well known mantra:

WHAT did he learn,
and WHEN did he learn it.

---

(I guess from WHOM, as well as HOW, and WHERE did he learn it could be added.)

[Elsie]

As I have said on many a topic many times, the trinity is the problem, and it is the one substance part of the trinity that is the problem in the Trinity.

I guess 3 beings tends to solve THAT problem!

---

(But adds a WHOLE new dimension of OTHER ones; don't you think?)

[ejonesie22]

Bless you...

[ejonesie22]

You succeed in spades.

You really are very good, a credit to those who taught you the art.

If you could trim back a little on the sales pitch it would be at an award winning level...

[Elsie]

We are Siamese if you please We are Siamese if you don't please We are from a residence of Siam There is no finer cat than I am   Do you see that thing swimming round and round Maybe we can reach on in and make it drown If we sneaking up upon it carefully There will be head for you and a tail for me   We are Siamese if you please We are Siamese if you don't please Now we're looking over our new domicile If we like we stay for maybe quite a while   Meow.......here kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty   Do you hear what I hear a baby cry Where we finding baby there's milk near by And if we look in baby buggy there could be Plenty of milk for you and also some for me   We are Siamese if you please We are Siamese if you don't please Now we're looking over our new domicile If we like we stay for maybe quite a while   We are Siamese if you please We are Siamese if you don't please We are from a residence of Siam There is no finer cat than I am   There is no finer cat than I am   There are no finer cats than we am

We are LDS if you please We are LDS if you don't please We are from a residence of Utah There is no finer folks than we are   Do you see that temple - biggest in town Careful baptize for dead - don't drown If we dip just right - totally There will be soul for you and a soul for me   We are LDS if you please We are LDS if you don't please Now we're looking over your domicile If you ask we stay for maybe quite a while   Meow.......here kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty   Do you hear what I hear a Christian sigh Where we finding Christian there's milk near by And if we look in doctrine there could be Plenty of milk for you and also some for me   We are LDS if you please We are LDS if you don't please Now we're looking over your domicile If you ask we stay for maybe quite a while   We are LDS if you please We are LDS if you don't please We are from a residence of Utah There is no finer folks than we are   There is no finer folk than I are   There are no finer folks than we are

[aMorePerfectUnion]

Mormonite Siamese Placemarker

Hereticalistic, polytheistic, Arianistic, Baptizing Deadistic,
Verses out of Contextistic, False Temple Ceremonialistic,
False Ritualistic, Fluffy Secret Underwearistic

MARKER!

[ShadowAce]

While I appreciate the reply, that doesn't answer the question. You answered "What does God mean to you?"

That was not the question I asked, nor was it the question I intended to ask.

I asked "How do you define God?" Give me what the Mormons teach about who He is, where He came from.

[greyfoxx39]

From here on, everyone on this thread should stop making the thread about individual Freepers and instead discuss the issues.

Starting when?

[greyfoxx39]

[Religion Moderator]

As of post 341.

[greyfoxx39]

Thanks.

[Godzilla]

Thank you

[Godzilla]

I was born in Salt Lake City, Utah and raised in the Mormon faith. I was ordained to the Aaronic priesthood of the Mormon Church, but in my later teens, I stopped going to the Church. I left because of certain fallacies in their teachings on the power of the priesthoods they claim to posses, and on account of the poor way they treat Mormons who do not live up to their standards.

For many years, I believed that I didn't need God in my life, but yet I still considered myself a Mormon. In 1997, I decided to reconsider having God in my life, but due to my past memories of the Mormon Church, I chose to start my search for the truth about God and what He had to offer, outside of the Mormon religion. Over the next couple of years, my search led me down many paths (including self-help books). Yet, I was unable to fill the emptiness that was inside of me.

In the Fall of 1999, my search led me to a Christian Church near my home. Attending this church helped me realize that, although I had been taught when I was grow up to believe in Jesus, I had never been taught to have a personal relationship with Jesus for my eternal life. I had only been taught that I needed to work my way to heaven. On December 22nd of that year I asked Jesus into my heart to be my personal Lord and Savior.

Since that time, God has been leading me to use my Mormon background to lead other Mormons to the REAL Jesus. I ministered to Laura who is now my wife of two years. At the time that we met, she was working on her endowments to go through the Mormon temple. God is so good, isn't He?!!! I also lead an old friend to the Lord who was Mormon. She now lives somewhere in Alaska.

I start the day in Bible reading and prayer. I find that this helps me walk more Christ-like throughout the day. Because of the changes that Jesus has made in my lifestyle, I have had many struggles at work and with my family (which are still following the Mormon faith). But in the past year, I have seen a change for the better at my job and also in my family when I visit them in Salt Lake City, UT. I also see doors starting to open up for me to share my personal relationship with Jesus to others. Jesus said in Matthew 7:21:
"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.”

In this passage, Jesus is saying that it takes something more that just calling Him “Lord” to enter into heaven. You may ask, what is the will of the Father? In John 6:40, Jesus tells us what the will of the Father is:

"And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day."

Today, we are not able to physically see Jesus, but if you humbly submit your life to Jesus and ask Him into your heart, He will reveal Himself to you in a real and personal way. This is what Jesus means when He commands us to do the “will” of the Father! In John 6:44, Jesus goes on to say:

"No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day."

The evidence in your life today that the Father is drawing you to Jesus is that you are searching for unanswered questions by visiting websites like this one. I pray that your search will be fulfilled.

[DelphiUser]

I asked "How do you define God?" Give me what the Mormons teach about who He is, where He came from.

OK, apparently I took it as a personal question, and you wanted an official pronouncement from teh LDS church, no problem. I pulled this definition straight off of the lds.org web site.

Here is the link to the specific page I took this definition from. This is what Mormons believe about God and the Godhead. Please note the links to scriptures, which are the basis for each point of belief.

See also Father in Heaven; Holy Ghost; Jesus Christ; Lord

There are three separate persons in the Godhead: God, the Eternal Father; his Son, Jesus Christ; and the Holy Ghost. We believe in each of them (A of F 1: 1). From latter-day revelation we learn that the Father and the Son have tangible bodies of flesh and bone and that the Holy Ghost is a personage of spirit, without flesh and bone (D&C 130: 22-23). These three persons are one in perfect unity and harmony of purpose and doctrine (John 17: 21-23; 2 Ne. 31: 21; 3 Ne. 11: 27, 36).

God the Father: It is generally the Father, or Elohim, who is referred to by the title God. He is called the Father because he is the father of our spirits (Mal. 2: 10; Num. 16: 22; 27: 16; Matt. 6: 9; Eph. 4: 6; Heb. 12: 9). God the Father is the supreme ruler of the universe. He is all powerful (Gen. 18: 14; Alma 26: 35; D&C 19: 1-3), all knowing (Matt. 6: 8; 2 Ne. 2: 24), and everywhere present through his Spirit (Ps. 139: 7-12; D&C 88: 7-13, 41). Mankind has a special relationship to God that sets man apart from all other created things: men and women are God’s spirit children (Ps. 82: 6; 1 Jn. 3: 1-3; D&C 20: 17-18).

There are few recorded instances of God the Father appearing to or speaking to man. The scriptures say that he spoke to Adam and Eve (Moses 4: 14-31) and introduced Jesus Christ on several occasions (Matt. 3: 17; 17: 5; John 12: 28-29; 3 Ne. 11: 3-7). He appeared to Stephen (Acts 7: 55-56) and Joseph Smith (JS-H 1: 17). Later he appeared to both Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon (D&C 76: 20, 23). To those who love God and purify themselves before him, God sometimes grants the privilege of seeing and knowing for themselves that he is God (Matt. 5: 8; 3 Ne. 12: 8; D&C 76: 116-118; 93: 1).

My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Mark 15: 34. These men are the servants of the most high God, Acts 16: 17. We are the offspring of God, Acts 17: 28-29. Thou shalt offer thy sacraments unto the Most High, D&C 59: 10-12. Enoch beheld the spirits that God had created, Moses 6: 36. Man of Holiness is his name, Moses 6: 57.

God the Son: The God known as Jehovah is the Son, Jesus Christ (Isa. 12: 2; 43: 11; 49: 26; 1 Cor. 10: 1-4; 1 Tim. 1: 1; Rev. 1: 8; 2 Ne. 22: 2). Jesus works under the direction of the Father and is in complete harmony with him. All mankind are his brothers and sisters, for he is the eldest of the spirit children of Elohim. Some scripture references refer to him by the word God. For example, the scripture says that “God created the heaven and the earth” (Gen. 1: 1), but it was actually Jesus who was the Creator under the direction of God the Father (John 1: 1-3, 10, 14; Heb. 1: 1-2).

The Lord identified himself as I AM, Ex. 3: 13-16. I am the Lord [Jehovah], and beside me there is no savior, Isa. 43: 11 (Isa. 45: 23). I am the light of the world, John 8: 12. Before Abraham was, I am, John 8: 58. The Lord shall minister among men in a tabernacle of clay, Mosiah 3: 5-10. Abinadi explained how Christ is the Father and the Son, Mosiah 15: 1-4 (Ether 3: 14). The Lord appeared to the brother of Jared, Ether 3. Listen to the words of Christ your Lord and your God, Moro. 8: 8. Jehovah is the judge of the quick and the dead, Moro. 10: 34. Jesus appeared to Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon, D&C 76: 20, 23. The Lord Jehovah appeared in the Kirtland Temple, D&C 110: 1-4. Jehovah spoke to Abraham, Abr. 1: 16-19. Jesus appeared to Joseph Smith, JS-H 1: 17.

God the Holy Ghost: The Holy Ghost is also a God and is called the Holy Spirit, the Spirit, and the Spirit of God, among other similar names and titles. With the aid of the Holy Ghost, man can know the will of God the Father and know that Jesus is the Christ (1 Cor. 12: 3).

The Holy Ghost will teach you what you should say, Luke 12: 12. The Holy Ghost is the Comforter, John 14: 26 (John 16: 7-15). Jesus gave commandments to the Apostles through the Holy Ghost, Acts 1: 2. The Holy Ghost bears witness of God and Christ, Acts 5: 29-32 (1 Cor. 12: 3). The Holy Ghost also is a witness to us, Heb. 10: 10-17. By the power of the Holy Ghost you may know the truth of all things, Moro. 10: 5. The Holy Ghost is the spirit of revelation, D&C 8: 2-3 (D&C 68: 4).