Archive for the 'spiritual progression' Category

In the Shadow of the Temple by Guest


Temple poster

A close friend of mine who wishes to remain anonymous recently saw in the shadow of the temple his story follows

In October, I was fortunate to attend the Portland, Oregon, screening of the movie, In the Shadow of the Temple. http://www.intheshadowofthetemple.com The screening was hosted by the producers, Karen Di Millia and Dennis Lavery. Prior to the screening Dennis and Karen spoke for 10 minutes and explained how they started this project. After the screening they took questions and answers for roughly 30 minutes.

Lavery and DeMillia, who are not–and never have been–LDS, originally planned to make a movie about people who had left the religion of their youth. They attended a meeting of the Portland Humanist Society, explained their project, and asked if anyone had such stories they would be willing to share. In the course of discussing the project with members of the society, they were told that who they really needed to talk to was Sue Emmett, who had left the LDS church. After talking with Sue and others with whom she put them in touch, they decided to re-focus their project on the experience of those who have left the LDS church. Continue reading…

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Approaching Isaiah 58: Fasting as a Spiritual Practice


approaching-isaiah-58-fasting-as-a-spiritual-practice

Sometime ago Jana Reiss wrote a column for Sunstone entitled ‘Mormonism as Praxis’[1] 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. Continue reading…

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Liken All Scriptures: Matthew 7:1-2


Which statement best describes the post-mortal fate of the 9/11 terrorists?

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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.  Continue reading…

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Adam and Eve: the First TBM & NOM


Adam-and-Eve-GardenThere have been several attempts over the years to categorize Mormon “belief-styles”: Orthodox Mormon versus Liberal Mormon, Iron Rod Mormon versus Liahona Mormon, and so on. In the online world of LDS blogs commonly called “the Bloggernacle”, Mormons are often categorized as being TBMs (True Believing Mormons) or NOMs (New Order Mormons).

One evening when my wife and I had the opportunity to reflect on the timeless story of Adam and Eve, it struck me that their different responses to God’s commandments, and to Lucifer’s “temptation”, perfectly exemplified the different mindsets of TBMs and NOMs, and symbolically portrayed the age-old struggle between Orthodox and Liberal in any faith. And as I meditated on their dramatic dialog with Lucifer, with each other, and with God, it donned on me that Adam and Eve were the perfect TBM-NOM couple.

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The Power of Choice


the-power-of-choice

One of the most important doctrinal points of the LDS Church is the power of choice, called agency or free agency in the Church.  In many ways, the entire Plan of Salvation hinges on the power of choice.

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Interfaith International British DJ


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paul-32

OK Paul technically isn’t exactly an international DJ, not unless you consider that you can listen to his interviews on line.

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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 though it’s OK to be miserable here, since we’ll be happy there. The problem is that we are told that the same spirit we develop here will rise with us there. (Alma 34:34) In other words, if we become peaceful in this life, we will be at peace in the next life. That’s worth pondering all on its own – that we are accountable for whether or not we develop internal peace. Continue reading…

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Are we going to be Eunuchs after this life?


My home teacher (who is very cool) came by yesterday to drop off some starter cables for my car and as one does in that short interlude we discussed the celestial kingdom and being Gods after this life. He believed that those who don’t make it to the highest kingdom in the Celestial Kingdom won’t have any sexual relationships and if you don’t have sexual relationships their will be no need for sexual organs.

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Does the LDS Church claim to be “an exclusive conduit to God”?


Recently, a veritable Icon of the Bloggernacle, who for purposes of anonymity we shall call “Aloysius Miller”, published a post stating: “I don’t see the church as an exclusive conduit to God,” and “I reject the claims that the church is a sole avenue to God.” Aloysius further stated: “I realize that those claims are a standard part of Mormon theology, and so my rejection of them makes me heterodox in that sense.”

Aloysius’ proclamation of self-declared hetrodoxy made me ask myself: Is he really at odds with Church doctrine in rejecting the notion that the LDS Church is “an exclusive conduit to God”? In other words, does the LDS Church even claim to be “an exclusive conduit to God”? Continue reading…

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International Ignorance


Someone mentioned in a blog post that I read recently about how accessible materials and information about the Church are for us these days: blogs, books (official and unofficial), news, the internet in general.  I couldn’t agree more.  There’s a wealth of information about the Church at our fingertips and goodness knows that many of us spend hours reading, analyzing, discussing, and debating it all.  I’m often surprised that more Mormons don’t take advantage of it.

There is one problem, however.  This wealth of information is NOT equally available to members of the Church.

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What is Truth?


When it comes to religion – can everyone know truth?  Can anyone?  Today’s guest post is from Justin Perry. Continue reading…

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I WOULD MAKE A LOUSY GOD!


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The Age of (Un)Accountability


NOTE: This is the first post for a new Guest Author – The Faithful Dissident. We look forward to many more to come.

Growing up with younger siblings, I always had a hard time believing that Satan couldn’t possess kids under the age of eight.  And that goes for myself too, since if what my parents have said is true, I was a bit of a devil child.  But, in all seriousness, I have some questions that make it hard for me to not see conflicts between the doctrine of the Age of Accountability and other Church doctrine. Continue reading…

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What is Good Church Leadership?


what-is-good-church-leadership

What is good leadership?  How did Joseph Smith envision church leadership?  How does that differ from the church today and how is it the same?  Today’s lesson is from the Joseph Smith manual #24, Leading in the Lord’s Way. Continue reading…

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