Mormon Bloggers

1 Nephi 1:1 Nephi shares with us a unique perspective. He sums up his life experience with the following statement: … having seen many afflictions in the course of my days, nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days; … Continue reading →  Read More →

We believe all that God has revealed, all that he does now reveal, and we believe that he will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the kingdom of God. (Articles of Faith 1:9) One of the hallmarks of the restoration of the gospel is that the heavens are still open, that God today operates by Amos’ Old Testament teaching, “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7). We also know, thanks to Joseph Smith’s experience, that God also reveals himself to individuals to answer prayers. Joseph followed the New Testament admonition of James to seek wisdom where he lacked it (see James 1:5), and received an answer he did not expect. In today’s church, apostles and others speak of revelation and inspiration interchangeably. One may receive personal revelation or inspiration for one’s sphere of responsibility – for personal use, for one’s family as a parent, for one’s organization as an auxiliary... Read the rest of this entry »

Now and again I hear someone ask when women will receive the Priesthood, which I spell with a capital P to denote that I mean the Priesthood expounded in the D&C as a whole package, including all the covenants. The Priesthood is incomplete without the covenants. It is true, that a woman does not receive [...]  Read More →

What is “hierarchy”? Let me answer in the words of etymology dictionary: c.1343, from O.Fr. ierarchie,  from M.L. hierarchia  ”ranked division of angels” (in the system of Dionysius the Areopagite), from Gk. hierarchia  ”rule of a high priest,” from hierarches  ”high priest, leader of sacred rites,” from ta hiera  ”the sacred rites” (neut. pl. of [...]  Read More →

A Mormon Mommy Blog craze is surfacing and a surprising number of people follow them. But it’s mostly the jazzy, doggy got a hair-cut blogs with light touches of gospel here and there. I seriously thought about switching to that style in order to appeal to a larger audience, but after some thought decided to just be who I really am. I frequent the book-wormish, philosophical, doctrinal, secrets of the universe corner and love spending time there. It’s what I most enjoy thinking and writing about. The appeal of this particular focus attracts a smaller crowd, but I’ll never look back and regret passing up the more popular venue. Having said that, I LOVE Doctrine & Covenants section 88. I’ve gone back and read it three times now. Like my sister said, “…amazed at how much is packed into the D&C. I always seem to forget.” Here are a few awesome verses from section 88 (all of them refer directly to Christ): 6 He that ascended up on high,... Read the rest of this entry »

About a thousand other people and I enjoyed an evening with Richard Bushman last night. He spoke about Joseph and Emma for about 40 minutes and then entertained questions from the audience for another 40 minutes. While his insights on Joseph and Emma were interesting, I found the questions more fascinating, because they reflected a lot of the issues I blog about. For those who don’t know, Richard Bushman is the author of Rough Stone Rolling, the 2005 biography of Joseph Smith that has become the definitive account of the prophet’s life as told from the viewpoint of a faithful historian. I took advantage of the opportunity to have him autograph my copy and was not the only one in the audience who waited in line to do so. Open and honest discussion It was wonderful to see so many people interested in learning more about this great man and the beginnings of the Mormon Church. Every time he finished answering a question a dozen more hands shot up. We could have been there for several more... Read the rest of this entry »

One of the greatest blessings of membership in the LDS Church is the gift of the Holy Ghost.  Of course we are not the only people in the world with whom the Lord works through his spirit.  But we are the only people who have claim upon the Holy Ghost as a constant companion.  That is a very unique and special claim. When asked by a President of the United States, “How is your religion different from all the other religions of the day?” The Prophet Joseph Smith answered, “We are different from all other religions in the mode of baptism (immersion) and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands (by those who have authority).” God inspires all In section 130 of the Doctrine and Covenants we read, “A man may receive the Holy Ghost, and it may descend upon him and not tarry with him.” All honest seekers of the truth can feel the influence of the Holy Ghost, leading them to Jesus Christ and His gospel.  People everywhere can be inspired by the Holy Ghost. However, the... Read the rest of this entry »

Our Heavenly Father wants all of His children to know Him and Jesus Christ “the [only] way” to return back to His presence (John 14:6).  After all eternal life is nothing more or less than knowing “God, and Jesus Christ, whom [He] hast sent” (John 17:3).  Throughout scripture, Christ promised to “manifest[] himself unto all those who believe in him, by the power of the Holy Ghost” (2 Nephi 26:13; 1 Nephi 10:19). Christ promised to send the Holy Ghost (John 16:7) to assist His apostles in their assigned ministry to “teach all nations” His gospel and teachings (Matthew 28:20).  The Holy Ghost would “guide [believers] into all truth” (John 16:13) and bear record “of the Father and [the Son]” (3 Nephi 11:32).  After Christ’s death, His disciples “were all filled with the Holy Ghost”, and as a result “they spake the word of God with boldness” and great converting power (Acts 4:31).  Persons that believe the words of Christ should repent of their sins and... Read the rest of this entry »

Faith vs. Works . . . this is something that I have frequently chatted with people about when they come online to Mormon.org to chat with a missionary.  Many times, those of other Christian faiths will come and ask me why I believe that I can work my way into heaven because they don’t quite understand what we really do believe concerning this topic.  In the Book of Mormon, Nephi teaches us “For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.” (2 Nephi 25:23)  Many people misunderstand this scripture in several ways, so I wanted to take a minute to look at this further.  Essentially, we believe that everything we do is a work of some type.  Thus to even have faith in Christ, we are making a decision/taking an action, which is a work. That is what Nephi was trying to teach us.  He pointed out... Read the rest of this entry »

What a wonderful day it is to consider together our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.  I’m grateful to partake of the sacrament with you and to renew my covenant to remember him and to follow him.  I’m not sure that I really understood the significance of that covenant when I first took it upon myself at age eight. I’m still trying to understand what it means to really keep that covenant each day.  Some days I do better than others.  Sundays are a joy to me because I spend them in activities that are centered on the mission of the church – to invite all to come unto Christ.  It’s during the week that I sometimes struggle to remember Him. I suppose it’s a life-long pursuit, isn’t it? – To figure out how to really come unto Christ as we have been commanded to do. As Moroni taught, “Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness … love God with all your might, mind and strength …” – Moroni 10:32 Another Book of... Read the rest of this entry »

The concept of “testimony” and “personal revelation” are not common practices in the Christian world.  However, it is a very natural concept among LDS Christians who seek a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and view Him as an accessible and a personal Savior. The Holy Ghost testifies of the Father and the Son.  God also communicates to us through the Holy Spirit.  Gospel truths are learned and verified with the help and witness of the same Holy Spirit also known as the Holy Ghost. So what does it feel like when the Holy Ghost communicates with us? Julian asked a few questions which I answered in an email earlier this week.  One of them was how did I know the Book of Mormon was true?  This is what I wrote him back…“…This is how I got my testimony.  But to be more specific to your questions as they relate to you.  I feel to explain certain principles.First, the Spirit works by testifying to truths, to that... Read the rest of this entry »

This is not new to a lot of us, but Alma’s seed analogy is one of the most wonderful, simple lectures on faith that I’ve ever come across.  Just happen to be reading this morning from Alma 32 in the Book of Mormon.  This analogy explains in uncomplicated terms, how to find and recognize Truth, how to gain real faith.  But first, let me explain… One of the essential elements of our faith is that EVERYONE can have their own personal, direct connection with God through the Holy Spirit.  Everyone can test and try any principle of the gospel, any matter of truth and know for themselves if a concept is real.  This knowledge need not be dependent on anyone else.  Not only that, we are encouraged to strive for personal revelation, and to have a personal relationship with the Savior ourselves.  In other words,  conscious contact with God. I was so surprised to learn that we as LDS Christians are peculiar in this aspect.  That a lot... Read the rest of this entry »