Before moving on to being born of the Spirit, I want to address just one more pertinent example from our history that relates to being born of water. I've recently been meditating on an idea expressed by psychologist Jordan B. Peterson, which is essentially that there is a narrative world (which always follows a story … Continue reading Spiritual Rebirth, Part 2: Our Generation
Spiritual Rebirth, Part 1: Born of Water
There are many natural and mythological motifs representing the idea of being born again: the sunrise, new moon, spring, lotus flower, phoenix, and butterfly, just to name a few. They all highlight the idea of the old thing completely dying in order to bring about the new. In the scriptures, we see the same concept … Continue reading Spiritual Rebirth, Part 1: Born of Water
“Can ye feel so now?”
I put together a presentation for those struggling with faith. I hope you find something meaningful in it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6fFP8U1fS8&t=0s Here's a parting passage to meditate on: "The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be … Continue reading “Can ye feel so now?”
“I stand at the door, and knock”
Imagine for a moment the following scenario: Christ appears to someone and visits with her in her living room. He has withheld His glory from her, like he did with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, so that she does not know who He is. During their conversation, the Lord wants to teach … Continue reading “I stand at the door, and knock”
What the Book of Mormon Says About Us
As a missionary, it seemed like the Book of Mormon really had one sole purpose. We'd hand out copies to anyone who would listen to our message, ask them to read a chapter (maybe the Introduction, 1 Nephi 1, 3 Nephi 11, etc.), and then pray about it to see if it was true. The … Continue reading What the Book of Mormon Says About Us
The Purpose of the Book of Mormon: Nearer to God
The Book of Mormon is a historic record of an actual civilization who populated the American continent. Their dealings with one another, and encounters with God, are in fact literal events that affected real people. Christ appeared and ministered to many people following His resurrection, and the Book of Mormon is a record of one … Continue reading The Purpose of the Book of Mormon: Nearer to God
Elohim
Joseph Smith has gotten a lot of flack for things he said in his last discourse, The King Follet Sermon. Much of the Christian world sees what he taught as heretical, unbiblical, and unchristian. I'm going to make the argument that they do this because they're steeped in their own traditions and biases rather than … Continue reading Elohim
Reason with Him
Isn't it great that the same God whose thoughts are higher than our thoughts, and whose ways are higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9), invites us to reason with Him? (Isaiah 1:18) He invites us to wrestle with Him a little. He's patient, and long-suffering, and will hear out whatever reasoning we use to arrive … Continue reading Reason with Him
Enter into the Kingdom of God
"Saved" is a supercharged word in Christian culture. Many people have varying ideas about what constitutes "salvation," and rightly so. The word itself doesn't have one universal definition. "Saved from what?" is the question we ought to be asking ourselves. Is being "saved" from death (by the resurrection) the same as being "saved" in the … Continue reading Enter into the Kingdom of God
Something Better
Elder LeGrand Richards tells an interesting story about his cousin on a mission that I like: "This cousin of mine who went to Norway—and he had been raised so that he had no experience with difficult situations—wrote me when he had been there a few weeks, and he said, 'LeGrand, I met a man the … Continue reading Something Better
