American society is generally familiar with the idea that Mormons have a health code that forbids them from drinking alcohol, tea, and coffee, not smoking or chewing tobacco, and staying away from a few other things that are forbidden. Science and the collective experience of society have long acknowledged that the Word of Wisdom given by Joseph Smith hundreds of years ago did indeed have a lot of prophetic wisdom in it. The Lord’s introduction to the Word of Wisdom... Read more
My household is in many ways similar to other homes where a Christian father and mother are doing their best to live their religion and raise kids to be disciples of Christ. Despite our efforts to teach our kids to choose the right, there are regular, even daily occurrences that require some level of parental intervention. In our home, little “fake fighting” matches among our group of young boys often result in stray, accidental elbows that quickly escalate situations into... Read more
Today is an important day! The 2024 US presidential election clearly has high stakes. In terms of the ability of this country to survive, this is possibly the most important election ever held in the United States to choose a new president. Our country is clearing struggling. The world is in turmoil, and the 2024 US Presidential Election has a nearly infinite number of implications for the world, even for the very existence of the country that Latter-day Saints believe... Read more
In 1961 at a stake conference in Honolulu, Hawaii, Joseph Fielding Smith, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had this to say about space travel: We will never get a man into space. This earth is man’s sphere and it was never intended that he should get away from it. The moon is a superior planet to the earth and it was never intended that man should... Read more
There’s an old saying that goes like this… Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. I’ve never had much reason to think much about that saying until the past several years. In this article, I am going to address several of the concerns I’ve seen from fellow Latter-day Saints as many of us have experienced an “awakening” that started (for most of us) with the “COVID pandemic.” My advice to those Mormons (hey, that term was good enough... Read more
Artificial intelligence has evolved, with exceptional acceleration experienced over the past decade, to a level of sophistication that has disrupted many of the aspects of modern society. As it has continued its path towards ubiquitous use, questions about how far it can go and what impact it will have on individuals and societies have become more increasingly urgent and less speculative and inquisitive. Many of these questions about the impact of AI go so far as to wonder whether it... Read more
The Book of Mormon’s preeminent, clearly stated purpose is to testify of Jesus Christ, which is what it does very well. Jesus Christ is referenced every 1.7 verses on average, totaling nearly 4,000 mentions of the Savior in The Book of Mormon. In addition to its focus on promoting faith in Jesus Christ, there are other major themes to be found in The Book of Mormon as it lays out the gospel plan, including the importance of repentance, the need... Read more
Is it possible that the Second Coming of Jesus Christ will happen within the next decade? For those who have followed the advice given by Jesus Christ in the New Testament to watch for the signs of his coming in the last days of the earth’s mortal existence, the answer to that question is likely yes. There is actually a relatively obscure prophecy that has to do with the Atlanta, Georgia Temple dedication in 1983 that may be of interest... Read more
This world is in desperate need of good male leaders, righteous men who demonstrate what it means to have integrity, to be masculine, to have intense faith and spirituality, to be protectors of family and freedom, and to be committed to fulfilling the specific roles given to us when our male spirits were created previous to being born into this life. The gospel of Jesus Christ requires us to become his disciples, which means that we pattern our lives after... Read more
A couple weeks ago, my wife received a group text message from someone in our ward inviting several couples to go together to watch the movie “The Oath”, which was self-labeled “the first Ancient American epic set in the pre-Columbian New World”. I had casually followed the movie’s developments for more than eight years, after learning from Darin Southam (the movie’s producer, who for some reason is now calling himself Darin Scott) about his desire to finally tell the story... Read more
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