Mormon Bloggers

Matters of life and death have preoccupied me lately, and no, I’m not speaking about the future of America here. I am guessing the hearts and minds of many parents and brothers and sisters are weighed down with the burdens they carry for the sins of their family members. I hope I can begin to offer more light and hope to such in this post. The Great Plan of Salvation The great plan of salvation, synonymous in The Book of Mormon as “the plan of redemption,” “the plan of mercy,” “the plan of happiness,” “the great plan of our God,” (see Alma 42), involves more than merely hoping for someday “being in a better place.” In the covenant relationship there is work involved on our part too. However, when one we love was incapable of doing the work required here, let us be assured that life continues beyond the veil. I don’t know how many times we heard, “He’s in a better place now,” in the final farewells... Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday we had the blessing of witnessing the baptism of yet another grandchild. Recently, it was Molly and Spencer. These choice young spirits who have been sent to our family in the third generation continue to amaze and humble me. Present by invitation at yesterday’s baptism was Alex’s best friend, not a member of the Church. At age eight he is already a missionary. Even before that he gifted his kindergarten teacher with a Book of Mormon. There is little doubt in my mind these spirits who are coming to earth in these last days are uniquely prepared for the days that lie ahead. Alex carries his scriptures with him in a special carrying case with the image of a basketball imprinted on it. Our grandchildren are all exceptional (you may discount these words if you choose, because it’s a grandfather talking about his grandchildren) but I fear no contradiction for those who know them well. Alex In a note to Alex I observed the new layer of snow on the ground (I know,... Read the rest of this entry »

Challenging Mormon Apologetics runs a status update daily where they utilize certain words from the Latter-day Saint teachings. Their attempt is obvious – supposedly to expose the errors in Mormon doctrine. What they are unwittingly doing is actually taking these definitions out of context, especially when it comes to quoting source material to make it [...]  Read More →

Much has been made over the years of the Church’s stance of withholding priesthood blessings from the Blacks. I have been asked by many people why Harold B. Lee was so “obstinate” in his opposition about extending those blessings. That’s a perception that is wholly inaccurate. What is accurate is that we are led by living prophets imbued with the spirit of revelation from the Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and directs the decisions made in the Church. I have written about this topic before, but it seems there are never enough words to fully describe the times. Many who would revise the history of the sixties if they could will not now admit that racism was an ugly and unrelenting chapter in American history, and the Church was routinely singled out and thrown into the political witches’ brew as a stereotypical example of it. For me, however, it was always a matter of pending revelation rather than policy, anchored in my belief in living prophets. President... Read the rest of this entry »

(l to r) Melanie, Merilee, Emily, Dianne, Allison I am a blessed man.  Much of that has to do with the women in my life who surround me and bless me with their faith and righteousness.  The accompanying picture is one of my five living daughters, all grown women now, all righteous, all accomplished, all talented, all faithful.  My cup truly runneth over.  They will be the first to tell you they have also been blessed by the righteous influence of their mother, their grandmothers and their mothers before them. Andrew and Jessica Goates This past week our family added another righteous woman to our ranks, a new daughter-in-law, Jessica Topham.  Patsy and I consider each of our daughters-in-law as daughters.  All my sons have married way above themselves, following the example of their father.  Outside the sealing room as we were preparing to leave the temple, I had a wonderful conversation with a couple I had not met previously. ... Read the rest of this entry »

Moral (or free) agency is the gift we have been given by a loving Heavenly Father.  We have the right to choose good or evil. The earliest record we have of its evidence is a suggestion from scripture that we were faced with a choice in the premortal realms before we came to inhabit this earth as mortals.  In the Church over the years we have heard “two plans” were presented for our consideration.  Here’s an example from 1943: President Harold B. Lee I read in the first section of the Doctrine and Covenants that the Lord speaks of a time when the hour shall soon come, but is not yet, when peace shall be taken from the earth, and when the devil would have power over his own dominion (see D&C 1:35). I have wondered what that meant, for the devil to have power over his own dominion. I read in the writings of Moses that there came a time in the Council in Heaven when “two plans” were proposed, and the children... Read the rest of this entry »

 Roger Ebert Someone sent me a blog post written recently in the Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert, the famous movie critic (thanks Alan).  It is interesting to read his analysis of how he characterizes the word “miracle.” He contends it is overused to explain a natural phenomenon. Ebert concludes, “Do I believe in miracles? No. I believe any event we observe can be explained by natural or scientific laws.” Ebert begins his blog with the observation the Chilean miners who were rescued recently after spending 69 days underground were not the recipients of a “miracle.”  Opines Ebert: “How much better to describe the rescue as the result of the fortitude of the miners and the skill of the good-willed people on the surface who reached them in what was, after all, a very short time. How much better to say the outcome in Chile was... Read the rest of this entry »

Many years ago, a missionary son asked, “How is it that women can officiate in temple ordinances, inasmuch as they do not have the priesthood? By what authority do they do those things?” That’s an excellent question, and this one does have an answer! The handout (see attached – click to enlarge, download it or print it to read the small print, or ask me for a pdf version) from today’s lesson outlines the priesthood holders (men only) who hold priesthood keys in the hierarchical structure of the organization (those on the right side of the handout).  I have written for years about this topic. The presiding keys of authority within the Church are very specific, and are held only by those who preside at the various levels of the Church. The President of the High Priesthood, the President of the Church, holds all the priesthood keys (see D&C 132:7). There is only one man on the earth at a time who holds all the keys of the priesthood. In actuality, however, he receives... Read the rest of this entry »

This has been a week filled with hate speech directed primarily at Muslims, but also at other religious groups. It began, of course, with a Florida preacher with a small congregation grabbing more than his share of headlines when he announced several weeks ago he intended to observe the ninth anniversary of 9/11 by burning copies of the Quran.  I can’t even dignify that man by mentioning his name. This past week even more evidence surfaced that hate speech is alive and well in America.  There is at least one Mormon, McKay Coppins, who writes for Newsweek Magazine.  He was on assignment in New York to cover the first meeting of something called the 9/11 Christian Center at Ground Zero, a group seeking to offer itself as a “counter-balance” to the proposed Park 51 Mosque to be built near Ground Zero. What Coppins was surprised to learn was this group seems to have little to do with Christianity.  Instead, he... Read the rest of this entry »

I have noticed that there are some people who think that prophets are a thing of the past, and that after Jesus came on earth, we do not really need them anymore. Usually, people who think this, also think that a modern prophet must be a false prophet by default, and they even use the scriptures to show passages about false prophets. What many of these people seem to miss, is that the scriptures talk about false prophets to distinguish them from the true prophets. Therefore, there must also be true prophets. And even more important, people may be acting and teaching as a prophet even if they call themselves with other names. Political leaders in many cases act as prophets, even rock bands spread their “gospel” through their music. I think that the following discussion from Bruce McConkie is very useful to help us understand the purpose of prophets and the real difference between true and false prophets. True Prophets Reveal True Doctrines (Bruce R. McConkie, The Millennial... Read the rest of this entry »

I’m an avid reader of SpaceWeather.com. While it’s not as popular as Space.com, it focuses on stuff that fascinates me – asteroids, planets, comets, sunspots, auroras, geomagnetic storms and meteors. It is hosted by Dr. Tony Phillips of NASA, who is a long time participant in communicating the science of astronomy to the world. If you go visit SpaceWeather.com, you’ll notice that Dr. Phillips is happy to post photos and videos of space phenomenon submitted by amateur observers from all over the world. They are always enjoyable and educational. He also has a table of known near earth asteroids that he keeps updated for those who follow this stuff. Tracking space objects There are people whose job it is to watch for these Potentially Hazardous Asteroids and notify important people if one gets too close. Of course, the media is usually all over the story when we know one is coming close and write it up in a way that generates interest. They usually throw in some element of fear of... Read the rest of this entry »

On February 17, 1981 Elder Bruce R. McConkie of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles gave a BYU devotional address called, The Three Pillars of Eternity. In it he expounds upon the doctrine of the three pillars, the creation, the fall and the atonement. He also beautifully connects three persons who are involved in all aspects of the three as Elohim, Michael, and Jehovah. These three are interconnected in a way that will ultimately “bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” Leaving one part of the equation, or one of the three participants out, would thwart the plan of the Father. There is an additional one, we are taught of, who eternally will oppose the plan, although he has become an active participant through his opposition of it, for “he knows not the mind of God.” According to the LDS Bible dictionary this slanderer, demon, adversary, and spoiler is the “enemy of righteousness and of those who seek to do the will of God.” “Latter-day revelation confirms... Read the rest of this entry »