A Note from the Author

Posted on by Jared

Click here for the Table of Contents

I am writing this book for my loved ones and friends. I am also writing to any church member who desires to draw nearer to God.  

I am not writing as a church leader, a gospel scholar, or for a profit motive. I’m writing based on my personal experiences with the things of the Spirit. I’ve learned that Heavenly Father will bless an average member of the church with sacred experiences that I formerly thought were only available to those who receive callings to high position in the church.

There is a natural tendency among church members to look at those who are called to high positions and assume they are somehow more important to the Lord than is the average member.

The Lord taught His followers he is “no respecter of persons”, but most church members really don’t believe it. I know I didn’t. I heard it with my ears, but it never found place in my heart, eventually the Lord taught me otherwise. Continue reading →

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Are We Living in the Day Prophesied by Heber C. Kimball?

Posted on by Jared

 Click here for the Table of Contents

I’ve been exploring the internet going on five years, viewing websites and blogs that present information about the Mormon church. Most of the sites I visit are created and visited  by members and former members of the church. The subject matter of post and the comments made range widely.

On one side of the continuum are sites written and frequented by church members who are filled with faith, on the other extreme are members who have left the church, but can’t leave the church alone. Then there is a large group of members who are in the middle. Their sites are frequented by members whose faith can be described as fragile.

This is a very general description and isn’t meant to be critical in any way. My heart aches every time I read a post or comment that details a members loss of faith. The battle for the faith of church members is real and has been going on from the day the church was organized. However, the internet has increased the reach, speed and intensity of the various players in this battle. Continue reading →

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Testimony-Call Upon the Lord and Cease Not Till You Obtain It

Posted on by Jared

Note: I’ve used footnotes in this post (26 to be exact). To view a footnote click the number. After reading the footnote click the number again to return.

The word “testimony” looms large in the vocabulary of Latter-Day-Saints. We are frequently reminded by our leaders that having, and maintaining a vibrant testimony is essential to our salvation. The importance of a testimony is highlighted by the fact that each month, one Sunday meeting is set apart for the “bearing” of testimonies.

At these monthly Fast and Testimony Meetings members stand and bear witness that they have a testimony of the truthfulness of the church.

Whence cometh a testimony? Continue reading →

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Stephen Hawking’s Doesn’t Think God Is The Creator. If Your Son or Granddaughter Ask You What You Think, How Would You Answer?

Posted on by Jared

From CNN World News:

God did not create the universe, world-famous physicist Stephen Hawking argues in a new book that aims to banish a divine creator from physics.

Hawking says in his book “The Grand Design” that, given the existence of gravity, “the universe can and will create itself from nothing,” according to an excerpt published Thursday in The Times of London.

“Spontaneous creation is the reason why there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist,” he writes in the excerpt.

Without doubt, Stephen Hawking’s is a recognized scientist. I think when it comes to science he should be heard. However, when it comes to marriage and parenting I don’t think his thoughts should have equal credibility.  The same goes for his thoughts on theology and many, many other subjects. Continue reading →

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One Way Out: An Invitation to America

Posted on by Jared

1-10-2011 I just learned about this video. It’s about 4 minutes long. Let me know what you think?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KWGzSSCgoo

Update:

1-11-2011 All of those who have commented so far haven’t like the first video. The following video is made by the same person. I don’t know him, so I can’t say with certainty if he intended to make a political statement in the first video.

Take a look at this video and let me know your opinion. It’s about 4 minutes long.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTVECvTYpN0

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The Only Way To Draw Near To The Lord

Posted on by Jared

The doctrines of the restoration contain a clear invitation for church members to draw near to the Lord, two examples, “draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you” (D&C 88:63). In another,  especially powerful invitation, the Lord says they “shall see my face and know that I  am” (D&C 93:1).

The Book of Mormon gives example after example of those individuals who were able to draw near to the Lord. Some of them even saw the the Lord, and talked with Him, face to face. They left a record showing those in our day how they did it, kinda of a “how to do it yourself” approach. I think this is why the prophet Joseph Smith said that “the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book” (TPJS, p. 194).

Note the order of things contained in the invitation to “draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you”. Who needs to make the first move? We do! The Lord’s way is for us to “come unto Him”, not the other way around.

From one of our hymns we gain insight into the Lord’s respect for our individuality–our agency: Continue reading →

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Establishing the Church Without the Gospel

Posted on by Jared

My goal as a blogger is to write about those things that will help each of us draw nearer to the lord. The Lord said, “draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you.” With that image in mind I would like to discuss the following counsel given by Elder Dallin H. Oaks in Oct 2010 General conference.

“Our Heavenly Father has given His children two lines of communication with Him—what we may call the personal line and the priesthood line.”

“We must use both the personal line and the priesthood line in proper balance to achieve the growth that is the purpose of mortal life. If personal religious practice relies too much on the personal line, individualism erases the importance of divine authority. If personal religious practice relies too much on the priesthood line, individual growth suffers.”

In my opinion, the challenge to keep proper balance with the personal and priesthood lines is  found more often out of balance favoring the priesthood line, thus individual growth suffers. Continue reading →

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How Do I Know If I Have Experienced The Gift Of The Holy Ghost?

Posted on by Jared

And blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost. 3 Nephi 12:6

For those who desire the companionship of the Holy Ghost this scripture is packed with meaning. The Lord draws on basic needs all of us experience on a daily basis, hungering for food and thirsting for water,to teach us what it takes to be filled with the Holy Ghost.

The idea of being filled with the Holy Ghost probably means the same thing as “always” having his Spirit to be with us as expressed in the sacrament prayer (D&C 20:77). Based on my experience with the Spirit I don’t feel I have arrived at the point of always having His Spirit to be with me.

Elder Eyring touching on this subject said:

“Getting revelation, he said, ‘is hard. It is not easy. The constant companionship of the Holy Ghost is possible, but, oh, it is so hard.’” Church News July 8, 2006 Continue reading →

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Beginning My Fourth Year As A Blogger

Posted on by Jared

This month signals the beginning of my fourth year as a blogger.  In the last few months I’ve pondered the question: should I continue?

I’ve decided that I will, but I plan on blogging with a slightly different perspective based on the experiences of the last three years.

Based on my sites record of visits it’s apparent that the post I have done on the basic principles of the gospel draw the most readers. So that is where I hope to make a contribution.

As I see it, there is a genuine need among Mormon bloggers to write about those things that help members deal with the following topics:

1.  The everyday challenge of being a follower of Christ Continue reading →

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Testifying of Christ—Are LDS Falling Short?

Posted on by Jared

In my prior post, “She Informed Me that She was No Longer Attending the LDS Church”, we learn from a young LDS church member why she decided to attend another church. She said:

“When I attended my LDS ward, we talked about being honest, the importance of reading scriptures and getting married in the Temple, and the importance of a living prophet, but I never heard much about Jesus Christ. In this new church I attend, Jesus is the heart and soul of all their sermons.”

Her seminary teacher was stunned and decided to ask the students in her 5 other classes how they felt about the girl’s observation of her church experience. I quote what the teacher said she learned from her other classes:

“To my amazement, the great majority in every class agreed with her, concluding that we didn’t speak, teach, or mention much about the Savior other than in our hymns and at the end of prayers and talks.” Continue reading →

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