To the teachers out there, sorry if this one is coming a day late and a dollar short. Our ward is a month behind on these due to Stake & Ward Conferences. Mea culpa.
Sometimes we forget that the early restored church focused a lot on the millenium, which many of them believed was imminent. As if they didn’t have enough stress! Continue reading…
Ironically, some of you with “strong testimonies” may think that those struggling with their testimony make only a small percentage of us here today. The converse is also true; many of you who are “struggling” yourselves may believe that you are the only one in the ward that thinks or feels what you do or that there are only a few of you at best. The truth, however, is that most of us, if not all of us, are struggling to some degree—(admittedly, some more than others). For although many of us stand at this pulpit once a month and testify of things that we “know,” for most of us these things are merely things that we have accepted and in which we have practiced faith successfully. Today’s post is from guest blogger Matt Lorenzen. Continue reading…
What is the church to you? A family you must learn to love? A path you must follow? A checklist of items you must do to be saved? Today’s post talks about the church as a tool and is from guest poster Jordan Turner. Continue reading…
On the eve of another election in the United States of America, many historic events are looming, both encouraging and daunting; Whatever happens, we will either elect our first person of color as President, or our first female as Vice President. We may see a 60-vote majority in the Senate for the Democratic party. But offsetting these historic events is great uncertainty and fear about an ongoing economic crisis unseen since the Great Depression, alarm due to serious conflicts with various nations overseas, even apprehension about possible irreversible changes in our environment. Yet, here we are again looking at a fundamental divide on issues of morality, equality, and civil rights. Continue reading…
Halloween is just around the corner! Have you ever been on a witch hunt? Or have you been singled out by a witch hunter? Here are some tips for all the witch hunters and witches out there. Continue reading…
I had occasion recently to re-visit a song I heard for the first time a few years ago, performed live in a college theater auditorium. The setting was relatively intimate for a “big name” concert, and I remember well the generally raucous and festive mood of the concert. Until this song started. As soon as the first words were vocalized, there was an immediate and intense hush over the entire auditorium. It was absolutely silent for the duration of the song, except for the muffled sobs of those who heard it - and that silence lasted an unimaginably long time after the song ended.
Two men pull up to a house they’ve never been to before. It’s dark, but a few lights appear on. They slowly get out, not saying much and walk up the walk to the door. One reaches out and rings the doorbell. Soon, a woman appears and opens the door.
One says: “Are you Sister Smith?”
And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God[...] and another book was opened, which is the book of life[...] And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
-Revelation Ch. 20 (vs. 12-15)
Love is a burning thing and it makes a fiery ring. Bound by wild desire, I fell into a ring of fire.
-Johnny Cash
In the LDS church, members are written into the book of life with their baptism and confirmation. For some, the love affair with the gospel can truly become a fiery passion. That passion produces its greatest defenders, but sometimes the fire consumes its lover. So the stage is set for the most intense crime of passion, the greatest act of violence… the blotting out of a name from the book of life. Continue reading…
I am acquainted with physical fear.
A friend and I, two women of a certain age, accompanied our children to an amusement park on a weekday. The children were allowed complete freedom, with an admonition to return to the meeting place at 5 pm. My friend and I found myself with several hours to fill, and we decided to be daring. Instead of finding a shady spot and chatting, eating several hundred dollars worth of funnel cakes, we thought we would recall our youth by riding the most scary rides in the park. I had not been on one of these rides in many years and had forgotten the sensations associated with climbing 100 feet into the air with a crowd at my back. When I reached the top of the rollercoaster, my forehead was slick with sweat. I took my seat and the cars on the wooden tracks began to creak. I felt distinctly unsafe. The coaster crept to the edge of a precipice, and as it rolled off into thin air, a July Fourth sparkler exploded in my chest. This was physical fear. Continue reading…
