Guest Post by Jared The objective of all who are baptized by water should be to receive the baptism of the Spirit. Otherwise, our baptism is incomplete. Baptism has two parts: baptism by water and baptism by the Spirit. (Please reread these three sentences several times.) The prophet Joseph Smith emphasized the importance of being baptized by both water and the Spirit saying, “You might as well baptize a bag of sand as a man, if not done in view of the remission of sins and getting of the Holy Ghost. Baptism by water is but half a baptism,...
Monthly Archives: July 2010
Date Night: What is your couple sexual style?
I was going to law school. Coming home from a mission in Japan, I was going to get a law degree and take Japanese business CEOs golfing and get paid a ton of money. This fantasy lasted right up until I heard a tape by marital researcher John Gottman. I was captivated at how marital conflict could be studied. I have since been immersed in studying couples and relationships, and have been seeing couples in therapy part-time for about three years, primarily using Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT). It can be difficult, but is also a privilege to watch. I...
Impressions of Martin’s Cove and Other Places
***Updated with Pictures*** This week, my wife and I took a short road trip while my youngest son was at Boy Scout Camp. We went into Wyoming and South Dakota, visiting the Mormon Handcart Visitor’s Center, Devil’s Tower, Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial. Each place was impressive and awe-inspiring.
Deconstructing Solomon
We tend to remember Solomon as either magically wise or the one who fell from grace with too many wives. Of his acts of wisdom, most remember only the “split the baby” story. Of the wives issue, all people remember is “hundreds.” But we rarely think about what the text has to say.
The Divided Kingdom Today
OT SS Lesson #27 “Take an old piece of clothing,” our SS lesson advises, “or a piece of paper that is cut in the shape of a piece of clothing and tear it into 12 pieces. Explain that toward the end of Solomon’s life, the prophet Ahijah prophesied that Jeroboam, one of Solomon’s 12 superintendents over taxes and labor, would take over much of the Israelite nation. To illustrate this, Ahijah seized the garment from the back of Jeroboam, tore it into 12 pieces, and gave 10 of the pieces to Jeroboam.” The lesson teaches that the influence of...
The Mormon Therapist on Appropriate Sexual Intimacy in Marriage
Is anal sex wrong? I asked my husband to do it once because I was curious and he was more than willing to oblige. We’ve done it a couple of times and I have enjoyed it about half the time, depending on my mood. We haven’t done it in a long time, but I was wondering if it was wrong to experiment to such an extent. Same with oral sex: I’ve heard two camps with one saying it’s absolutely wrong and not spiritually uplifting and therefore shouldn’t be done, while others say once you’re married anything is game. That...
Strangite Q&A
As I mentioned previously, I really enjoyed the Strangite session of the Mormon History Association meetings a few weeks ago. Vickie Speek, John Hamer, and Mike Karpowicz gave some fascinating presentations on this little known group. Following the session, they answered additional questions, and I thought it would be interesting to provide a transcript of the Q&A session. But before I get into the transcript, I should tell you a brief history of the Strangite Church. James Strang, prophet of the Strangite Church
Understanding the Atonement
The atonement is to Christianity what enlightenment is to Buddhism: the foundational concept. How do you feel about the atonement? I admit to some mixed feelings on the concept of atonement.
Mormon Law: The First Half of 2010
By Jeff Breinholt On the East Coast this past 4th of July weekend, it was hotter than blazes. In addition, to heat, the arrival of Independence Day means we are halfway through 2010. In the first six months of this year, how hot is “Mormon Law” – litigation over the role of the LDS Church in society? Mormon Law can be divided into two categories. There are the Mormon vs. non-Mormon controversies (like employment, family law, and intellectual property cases), and cases pitting Mormons against the government (criminal, asylum, and benefits cases, and prisoner lawsuits). To qualify as a...
Lessons from Old Testament Harshness
Deuteronomy 6:10-12 seems incredibly harsh. As the Lord’s people enter into Canaan, they are given cities that they haven’t built, produce they haven’t grown, and all manner of things they don’t deserve, while the inhabitants of the land are wiped out. It is as if the only and true path to prosperity is to plunder those who have worked, built and sweated to create. Indeed, scriptures of that sort have been used to justify that very type of activity. In context with the next 27 chapters or so, it is an extended metaphor that no matter how we think...
The Question Solomon Couldn’t Answer
OT SS Lesson #26 Our Sunday School lesson this week attempts to deal with the conundrum with which we are faced when considering that Israel’s King Solomon, who was a paragon of wisdom having received this gift from the Lord, could make the decidedly unwise decision of marrying foreign wives and following them into idolatry.
The constraints of agency: Your neighbor and your neighborhood
Albert Bandura defines agency is “the capacity to exercise control over the nature and quality of one’s life.” We have freedom to make choices, and we are responsible for (the agent of) what we choose. Exactly how responsible are we for our actions? What influences to make decisions? Home life? Community influences? Abuse? Emotionally dismissive parenting? An unfortunate genetic tendency? Are we always (or ever) 100% responsible?
Cookie Cutter Church Buildings
There was a time that each Church building, Meetinghouse, Stake Center and Temple was a unique structure, and, in many cases, very distinctive. For a while now, in order to save money, the Church has been using standard plans for its buildings. Caveat alert: Once you get outside of North America, all bets are off on building design. They seem to be more unique, even the newer ones. What’s interesting is that the leveraging of designs has really been going on since the 1950s. Prior to that, each building was designed and built from the ground up. Looking at...
Saw me in prison and came unto me …
The Dallas District Attorney’s office preserved DNA evidence. When advances in science occurred, they were able to retest many samples in cases where people claimed innocence. As a result, some men were freed. Other counties destroyed the same material. Those men are still in prison. The innocent who are still in jail we can sorrow for. But what about the guilty? Should we care about them? Really?
Latter-Day Morality
You may not be aware of this if you grew up Mormon, but the LDS definition of morality is rather different than that which is generally accepted. Morality is very easily defined to Mormons — it means not having sex. That’s all. End of discussion. Immorality means having sex. That’s what we teach our teenagers, and that is the definition we carry with us from our church meetings into our daily lives. Today I’d like to talk about some of the nuances to the word “morality.” The meanings that we don’t get in Mutual or Seminary or Sunday School....
Free Will vs. Determinism…FIGHT!
One of the most basic and fundamental premises of Mormonism is the idea of free will. While we take this for granted in Mormonism, in the secular world the debate is far from settled. In fact, the debate over determinism vs. libertarianism (not the political philosophy but the metaphysical philosophy) has raged on and on for centuries.
The Mormon Therapist on Interracial Marriage
Recently I’ve been in contact with a girl by means of the internet. We haven’t met but plan to soon. I like her a lot. She has told me she loves me and wants to start a family with me. She isn’t a member of the church but said she is willing to join it if it means being with me. I find her attractive, yes -but there are other factors as well. She is from a mixed race (half African, half White American). I know love can put aside all differences but at the same time this would...
Eastern Orthodoxy: Theosis/Deification
Covenant Theological Seminary is a Presbyterian Seminary. They have online courses that you can listen to for free! If you pay tuition, you can get a Master of Divinity Degree online. I have found the podcasts incredibly interesting. I’ve learned some interesting concepts from class on Ancient and Medieval Church History. Session #23 discusses Eastern Orthodoxy. First, let’s have a little background. The Eastern Orthodox Church officially split with the Catholic Church in 1054. The Pope excommunicated the Patriarch in Constantinople, so the Patriarch did the same to the Pope. There had been some different emphasis on theology for...
When the Fourth of July Falls on the Sabbath
Yesterday’s activities began with a Pancake Breakfast over at the Church, followed by a softball game. We loaded up several of the kids from the Ward, my children’s friends, and hauled them all to the beach in both of our vans. Arriving home at 5:00, we joined some neighbors for a potluck and barbecue. There were even some small fireworks lit out in the field behind our house. I enjoyed the day very much. It was a lot like what we’ve done on the Fourth of July in years past — but this was on the third. As I...