Does a sinful person receive inspiration?

[UtahDan]

Originally Posted by jay santos

Give me an example of something that would drive the spirit away. I don't believe there is anything except one's self turning away from it or not seeking it. And the act of turning to the spirit and seeking it, immediately brings it.

That is actually a very appealing way to conceptualize it. I'll have to ponder.

[jay santos]

Originally Posted by UtahDan

That is actually a very appealing way to conceptualize it. I'll have to ponder.

Take that TripleD.

[UtahDan]

Originally Posted by jay santos

Take that TripleD.

I do tend to believe that if Alma that younger in the depths of his torment and despair can cry out for the Saviour and feel the love of God, then almost anyone can. I think we can sin enough that promptings are hard if not impossible to feel, but being prompted and seeking are not the same thing. Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. No caveats to that, I don't think.

I think there is a false pride and elitism in imagining that others don't have access to the spirit because they are too sinful when the reality is we are all sinful. It is the emotion the good son felt when the prodigal son was thrown a party. A very human reaction, I think.

[jay santos]

Originally Posted by UtahDan

I think there is a false pride and elitism in imagining that others don't have access to the spirit because they are too sinful when the reality is we are all sinful. It is the emotion the good son felt when the prodigal son was thrown a party. A very human reaction, I think.

This is the post of the day.

This is what I'm fighting against.

[Brian]

Originally Posted by Indy Coug

They both need help, it's just a matter of how able a lying, cheating, wife-beating, drug-addicted scumbag is of being able to sense the divine.

Can he get a moment of clarity when he isn't lying, cheating, beating his wife or using drugs that he needs to turn his life around and that God is extending his arms of love around him? Absolutely, particularly if he initiates the contact (not that that's an absolute prerequisite).

The problem is that when someone is so burdened with these problems they don't allow room in their lives for God and his influence.

Is it easier for that person to sense the divine than someone who already has a lot of those items removed from their lives and whose mind is more or less continually mindful of what they should be doing and seeking guidance from the Lord; someone who has the Gift of the Holy Ghost and doesn't live their lives in a way that would offend the companionship of the Spirit? Do I seriously have to answer that question?

Again,
Why do "we" continue to cling to the notion of a petty, easily irritated, score keeping asshole of a God?

[Archaea]

Originally Posted by Brian

Again,
Why do "we" continue to cling to the notion of a petty, easily irritated, score keeping asshole of a God?

You're asking an actuary that?

If you keep to simplistic solutions you can pigeon-hole people and feel good about one's conduct.

[ute4ever]

Originally Posted by Brian

Again,
Why do "we" continue to cling to the notion of a petty, easily irritated, score keeping asshole of a God?

That is a fair question. For the "score keeping" idea, I think of the parable of the ten virgins; some had the requisite amount of oil to earn an invitation, while others did not. It infers that there is a slippery slope of measurement somewhere.

However, I see a much larger measure of mercy in the allegory of the olive tree. How many times did the master of the vineyard try to save the branches that were not bringing forth fruit? How many times did he say, "what more can I do to save this tree?" It seems to me that, suppose the master saw a decaying branch that suddenly had a good seedling trying to sprout, that although the overall branch was decaying, he would have tried to graft that seed, add to it, save it.

I hope that makes sense.

[SeattleUte]

Originally Posted by Brian

God is a really nice guy.

Perhaps. But he would also be pretty darn haphazard, arbitrary, and careless. I had an old Mormon friend tell me his wife wouldn't call and console her brother as he was seriously ill with a blood condition. She said it happened to him becuase he "didn't keep the commandments." She doesn't know God very well, does she.

[SeattleUte]

This really nice God we have let something like Auschwitz happen, yet reaches his mighty arm out to affect the outcome of a football game.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Originally Posted by SeattleUte

This really nice God we have let something like Auschwitz happen, yet reaches his mighty arm out to affect the outcome of a football game.

Not just once, but two years in a row!