Mormon Bloggers

The father looks up wistfully from his reading; another argument and another angry outburst of frustration. It had been only a couple of years yesterday when his youngest son announced that he and his young family had left The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And when his son came to visit with his [...]  Read More →

All my life in the church I have heard the promises of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  These are held out as motivating ideas that are intended to help us resist the pull and attraction of worldly pleasures.  In this short essay, I would like to consider just one of those promises and the power for good that it should have in our lives. Of course, the attraction of promises pre-supposes that you are the kind of person that is motivated by the “moving-toward” model.  If you’re not familiar with the idea, it comes from the book Unlimited Power by Anthony Robbins.  He states, “All human behavior revolves around the urge to gain pleasure or avoid pain.” Tony’s shorthand for this is “pain or gain.”  Which one drives you?  Of course the concept is not original with Tony but he made it a focus of his seminars and books.  The idea has been around forever and stated in different ways by various thinkers.  The process is not absolute.  We move toward some things and away from... Read the rest of this entry »

I stumbled over a quote from President Boyd K. Packer the other day that set off a series of thoughts about absolutism and Mormons. C.S. Lewis There was also another statement Packer’s brought to mind.  I will quote first from C.S. Lewis:  “We have not yet had the slightest notion of the tremendous thing He means to make of us.”  (Mere Christianity, 205).  Because He can only do His thing in us on His terms, we will invariably encounter just how absolute the sanctification process really is. Anyone with even a cursory testimony of the truthfulness of The Book of Mormon and the other standard works as divinely inspired scripture must come to an inescapable conclusion without much effort that the book is filled with absolutisms.  (The emphasis in italics below is mine). Here’s an example:  “Zion cannot be built up unless it is by the principles of the law of the celestial kingdom; otherwise I cannot... Read the rest of this entry »

This is one of those scripture sequences that wraps up the purpose and meaning of life in a nutshell.  I read this one over and over when discovering it earlier this week.  My heart sings as I contemplate the words – an ethereal message that empowers the soul. Helaman 3:27-30 27Thus we may see that the Lord is merciful unto all who will, in the sincerity of their hearts, call upon his holy name.  28Yea, thus we see that the gate of heaven is open unto all, even to those who will believe on the name of Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God.  29Yea, we see that whosoever will may lay hold upon the word of God, which is quick and powerful, which shall divide asunder all the cunning and the snares and the wiles of the devil, and lead the man of Christ in a strait and narrow course across that everlasting gulf of misery which is prepared to engulf the wicked—  30And land their souls, yea, their... Read the rest of this entry »

 Michaelangelo Buonaroti, hailed as one of the most masterful artists in history, enjoyed much fame during his life.  He was given the distinction of being the first artist to have his biography published during his lifetime.  He was referred to, in Florence and around Italy, as Il Divino, or “The Divine One.”  Once he entered the forefront of the Renaissance art society, his fame spread, and throughout his life he received commission upon commission by the most respected patrons in Italy.   Although reported to be somewhat arrogant regarding his talents, his own words provide a deep insight.“If people knew how hard I worked to gain my mastery, it would not be so wonderful.”   Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, painted by Michaelangelo Hesiod  (c. 700 BC) The early Greek poet and author, Hesiod, a contemporary of Homer, believed as well in diligence. “Mediocrity is easy, it can be had in quantity. ... Read the rest of this entry »

The third thing necessary for one to exercise faith in God unto salvation is an actual knowledge that the course of life which he is pursuing, is according to His will (see The Lectures on Faith by Joseph Smith, Lecture Third). I would now like to talk about how to obtain that knowledge for ourselves. Joseph Smith recognized from a young age that this knowledge was available from heaven. He recounted: “On the evening of the … twenty-first of September, after I had retired to my bed for the night, I betook myself to prayer and supplication to Almighty God for forgiveness of all my sins and follies, and also for a manifestation to me, that I might know of my state and standing before him; for I had full confidence in obtaining a divine manifestation, as I previously had one.” Just as it was available to young Joseph, this knowledge is available to us; however, it has been my experience that we must to do more than just ask for revelation in order to receive it. We must first... Read the rest of this entry »

The third thing necessary for one to exercise faith in God unto salvation is an actual knowledge that the course of life which he is pursuing, is according to His will (see The Lectures on Faith by Joseph Smith, Lecture Third). I would now like to talk about how to obtain that knowledge for ourselves. Joseph Smith recognized from a young age that this knowledge was available from heaven. He recounted: “On the evening of the … twenty-first of September, after I had retired to my bed for the night, I betook myself to prayer and supplication to Almighty God for forgiveness of all my sins and follies, and also for a manifestation to me, that I might know of my state and standing before him; for I had full confidence in obtaining a divine manifestation, as I previously had one.” Just as it was available to young Joseph, this knowledge is available to us; however, it has been my experience that we must to do more than just ask for revelation in order to receive it. We must first... Read the rest of this entry »

Particular doctrines, specific beliefs, and sacred rites of passages of most religions set forth, in what James Talmage refers to as, “formulated creeds” (Talmage, 1976). One of the very first of these creeds ever to have established did not come out of the First Century of the Common Era but came out of the third [...]  Read More →

The Articles of Faith are 13 statements written by Joseph Smith with the purpose of providing a basic understanding of what Mormons believe. The fourth Article of Faith states: We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. In order to obtain exaltation, we must first practice faith in Jesus Christ, repent of our sins, and then be baptized and confirmed by the correct authority. I would like now to address the principle of faith in Jesus Christ. In the book of Mormon, a prophet named Alma taught “if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true” (Alma 32:21). Paul further defines faith in his epistle to the Hebrews: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). In order to produce exaltation, faith must be centered... Read the rest of this entry »

The Articles of Faith are 13 statements written by Joseph Smith with the purpose of providing a basic understanding of what Mormons believe. The fourth Article of Faith states: We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. In order to obtain exaltation, we must first practice faith in Jesus Christ, repent of our sins, and then be baptized and confirmed by the correct authority. I would like now to address the principle of faith in Jesus Christ. In the book of Mormon, a prophet named Alma taught “if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true” (Alma 32:21). Paul further defines faith in his epistle to the Hebrews: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). In order to produce exaltation, faith must be centered... Read the rest of this entry »

Timothy Plumlee, an Associate Content Contributor, had written an article that makes a very weak attempt at discrediting the LDS Church. While you can still read my response to him at my AC page, the conversations are a bit entertaining, especially coming from him. I have pulled my comments and his comments together to share [...]  Read More →

The other day, I happened to post on Mormon Apologetics Discussion Board a brief and quick topic on the parallelism that exists between some of those on the Liberal side of politic’s and those who are critic’s of the Mormon faith. In full context, here is the original posting. Recently, I started listening to AM [...]  Read More →