One of my monthly New Year’s Resolutions last year was taken from Matthew 7:9-12, a slight change in my original plan. (See here.) These verses state: Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to...
mercy
Charity: Self-Analysis Tool: Do I Vaunt Myself; Am I Puffed Up?
My New Year’s Resolution this year is taken from I Corinthians 13:4-7. In a nutshell, it is to become a little more charitable this year. I am studying and trying to practice one of the manifestations of charity listed in Paul’s passage each month. This month, the focus is on charity “vaunting not itself” and not being “puffed up”. I write each Saturday about this resolution on my personal blog, and I want to share something with all of you that hit me as I was preparing to write my post for last Saturday.
Jacob’s Ladder: More on Faith Vs. Works
OT SS Lesson #10 Though it’s only an “additional teaching idea” in Lesson 12, Jacob’s ladder has captured my imagination due to some conversations I’ve recently had with Christian evangelicals. Jacob’s Dream woodcut, Lubeck Bible 1494
A Child Is Born In Bukavu
A Christmas message, by today’s guest poster, mormongandhi. A child is born in Bukavu A child is born in Bukavu, and sadness fills his mother’s heart… Bukavu is not the city of David. It is a town in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. War has been ravaging the country for years. Ever since Kabila invaded the former Zaire with military support from the US. It is a war that no one speaks of – but it has cost the lives of millions of people and caused unimaginable suffering.
Approaching Isaiah 58: Fasting as a Spiritual Practice
Sometime ago Jana Reiss wrote a column for Sunstone entitled ‘Mormonism as Praxis’ in which the writers attempted to explore what Mormonism means in terms of ‘spiritual practices’. Jana, in a Sunstone podcast with Dan Wotherspoon, has explained that one of her main interests is trying to understand how these spiritual practices can become effective through a Mormon context. This post is a feeble attempt to think in that same vein. I wanted to try and understand how fasting is a spiritual practice.
Liken All Scriptures: Matthew 7:1-2
Please explain your answer.
Common Scriptures in Review: Gender & the Sermon on the Mount
I absolutely LOVE the Sermon on the Mount. It is my second favorite passage in all our recorded scripture – right behind the Intercessory Prayer. However, we often forget that it was delivered to . . . his disciples . . . not to the multitude who had gathered because of his fame.
Euthanasia vs. Abortion: Is The Church Inconsistent?
I know we’ve already had a good discussion here at Mormon Matters about euthanasia. But as this subject has been on my mind lately, due to the news I got recently that my grandfather has terminal cancer, I was struck by what seems to me as a huge inconsistency on the Church’s part if we compare its policies on euthanasia and abortion.
What Makes People Good?
An article in Newsweek “Adventures in Good and Evil” made a few interesting points about why some people are good and some are evil.
Please Respect the Rules of Common Decency
This is an administrative post that is irrelevant to most of you. For that, I apologize. However, we have had a surge recently in comments left by dedicated anti-Mormon activists – comments that have NOTHING to do with the posts on which they appear and that contain NOTHING constructive or enlightening. We also have had a few comments by believing members that have come perilously close to crossing the lines of common decency, and one in particular that crossed those lines.
Is Accountability a Good or Bad Thing?
I am struck regularly by how many members fail to focus on the life of Jesus and, thus, fail to realize that there are incredible lessons (particularly in the Gospels) about specific things we can do to become more like Him – things that can lessen the effects of our sins and actually help decrease the frequency of those sins – thus bringing internal peace and a measure of calmness to our lives in the here and now, regardless of the storms that rage therein. I believe we sometimes buy into the apostate obsession with the afterlife – as...
Scripture Study: The Joy of My Countenance
There is a strange parable in D&C 88 about workers digging in a field and their boss giving them the joy of his countenance for an hour during their shift. Read on to weigh in what you think this means.
Scripture Study: What’s Expedient?
I’d like to start a new feature showcasing stuff I read in the scriptures and getting your opinions on what the heck you think it means. Hope you like it. I just read D&C 88 and ran across an interesting passage we’ve all heard/read before in vv. 64 and 65 that begs the question: What’s expedient?
Faith vs. Doubt
“Faith and doubt cannot exist in the same mind at the same time, for one will dispel the other.”
The Difference Between Mercy and Kindness:How Does It Apply Here?
I was struck last year, as I worked to understand mercy better, by the difference between mercy and kindness. If I had not focused on meekness earlier in the year, when I defined meekness and where I discussed being gentler with the ones we love, I probably would have defined mercy in terms of being kind. However, as I thought about it, it hit me that “mercy” is more than being kind and gentle – in a very important and fundamental way that has direct relevance to blogging.