General Authorities

Churches are Made for the Ninety and Nine… What About the One?

September 17, 2008
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Churches are Made for the Ninety and Nine… What About the One?

Believers and non-believers. The faithful and the doubters. Religious conservatives and religious liberals. TBMs and NOMs. These are ways we describe the differences in our faith and activity in our religious tradition. These variations are not unique to Mormonism. The patterns of faith development have been documented across all religions and cultures. How does an institutional church serve and support both groups? How does it care for the ninety and nine, without neglecting the one? Can it go after the one without neglecting the ninety and nine?

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Remember Dieter Uchtdorf?

September 11, 2008
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Remember Dieter Uchtdorf?

Today’s post is by Wade Nelson.  Remember Dieter Uchtdorf?

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How Active Are You? How Orthodox Are You? A Self-Assessment

September 4, 2008
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How Active Are You? How Orthodox Are You? A Self-Assessment

Take this assessment and find out: (Taken from D. Jeff Burton’s For Those Who Wonder : forthosewhowonder.com. Similar to a Correlation Department survey on Religion and Life conducted among LDS Church members in the mid-1980s)

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Understanding General Authorities

August 31, 2008
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Most people who are aware of the LDS Church are aware that we have “general authorities” and that they share some characteristics, but in my experience, they don’t really understand what General Authorities are or what the term means.  I’m going to skip what the phrase means and discuss what they are. General Authorities (“G.A.”s) tend to share the following characteristics: a history of personal sacrifice much experience in delayed gratification. a set of spiritual skills and experiences. a set of social experiences and narratives.

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Prophetic Smackdown: Moses vs. Joseph Smith

August 25, 2008
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Prophetic Smackdown: Moses vs. Joseph Smith

Today’s post is from an anonymous guest blogger.  The critics of the church like to point the finger at Joseph Smith, citing polygamy, concealing polygamy, the Kirtland Bank failure, etc.  Could Moses withstand the same scrutiny?  Let’s take a look.

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The Other Half of the Circle

August 21, 2008
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The Other Half of the Circle

I am an over-analyzer. As a musician I listen to music in a different way than a lot of folks. I pick apart each instrument and criticize the cleverness of lyrics (or lack thereof). I was briefly interested in screenwriting and read some books about it, and now I pick apart the plotlines of movies. Things that many people enjoy in a simple way become an exercise in academic frustration for me. This is the blessing and curse of humanity. We think. Recently I heard Robert Kirby say, “Humans are the only species than can actually think themselves stupider.”...

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The Proper Focus of Leadership: Organizational or Individual?

August 6, 2008
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This perhaps will be the only post I write that simply is a series of questions, but these questions have enormous implication for the Church – and for how we view and discuss issues related to it. Honestly, these questions struck me as I read many of the comments on this very blog.

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For Pioneer Day, a Prophet of Peace

July 24, 2008
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For Pioneer Day, a Prophet of Peace

Prophet of Peace This is why I love President Monson! He has the common touch and appears to love people. If you watch the video linked above, you will see the news piece on Salt Lake TV. At the very end, President Monson ends the informal report by flashing a peace sign, saying “Peace!” and chuckling. I was completely enamored of him once again.

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Proof Texting for Fun and Prophet

July 11, 2008
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Proof Texting for Fun and Prophet

Recent articles got me thinking about the practice of Prooftexting, which Wikipedia defines as follows: Prooftexting is the practice of using decontextualised quotations from a document (often, but not always, a book of the Bible) to establish a proposition rhetorically through an appeal to authority. Critics of the technique note that often the document, when read as a whole, may not in fact support the proposition.

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Evidences and Reconciliations (6/30/08)

June 30, 2008
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And when the priests left their labor to impart the word of God unto the people, the people also left their labors to hear the word of God. And when the priest had imparted unto them the word of God they all returned again diligently unto their labors; and the priest, not esteeming himself above his hearers, for the preacher was no better than the hearer, neither was the teacher any better than the learner; and thus they were all equal, and they did all labor, every man according to his strength. Alma 1:26 And the elders or high...

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Rock the Gerontocracy!

June 12, 2008
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Rock the Gerontocracy!

Larry King described the Mormon faith as a “gerontocracy” (Hello–Pot? Kettle here).  Being led by 15 men with a median age of 76 is a unique feature of our church. So, what are the side effects of being in a gerontocracy? How does it color our life experience and perspectives? How does it affect the image of the church?

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6 Minutes 44 Seconds

May 26, 2008
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This could be the most meaningful six minutes and 44 seconds that you spend today.

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Mormon Miracles: Seeking for a Sign

May 6, 2008
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Mormon Miracles: Seeking for a Sign

How much does God intervene in our lives?  More than we give credit to Him or less than some would like to believe?  Why do some require evidence of God’s will in even the most mundane aspects of life?  Is this seeking for a sign?

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Nepotism in the Church

April 14, 2008
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As I watched the press conference last week between the Sunday sessions of General Conference, I found out that the new 2nd Counselor of the Young Women General Presidency, Ann Dibbs, is a daughter of President Thomas S Monson. It got me thinking about how many relatives of Church leaders also become leaders themselves. Is nepotism a problem in the Church today?

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