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
I am one of seven children. I married a girl who has seven siblings. We both enjoyed and benefited immensely by growing up in large families, despite the many challenges and difficulties that come with having to share almost everything (including one-on-one time with parents), limited financial resources, and other aspects of growing up in a large household. Now, after 20 years of marriage, my wife and I have eight children of our own. On nearly a daily basis we... Read more
The essence of Christianity is the notion that Jesus Christ has made it possible for mankind, a collection of imperfect sinners who are incapable of achieving perfection on their own, to receive salvation. Salvation, often referred to in the scriptures as redemption, provides to the recipient the ability to be retrieved from being useless and disregarded and turned into something infinitely valuable. But what is salvation? What does it mean to be saved? What must a person do to qualify... Read more
In the Christian world, requirements to get to heaven tend to vary depending upon whose interpretation of the scriptures (mixed with some tradition and other inputs) you’re using. I’m going to discuss the topic of whether you have to be baptized to get to heaven, and I’ll use several scriptures from the New Testament to explain why baptism is such a critical aspect of receiving salvation The short answer to the question about whether a person needs to be baptized... Read more
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