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
The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us. Doctrine and Covenants 130:22 My daughter has been attending a Christian music camp over the past several weeks. As soon as others in her group at the camp found out that she is a... Read more
You may have heard of a little critter called a Mormon Cricket. While LDS Church president Russell M Nelson has asked that members of the church stop referring to themselves as Mormons (instead opting for the much more wordy “member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints”), insects don’t seem to pay much attention to what people tell them to do, regardless of their position. So, “Mormon Cricket” it remains. I’m going to tell you the story of... Read more
Last week my wife, Lisa, and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary. It just so happened that our anniversary fell, as it almost always does, on a day when we had an event scheduled for our family. My wife’s parents and siblings planned a weeklong reunion (that included our June 13 anniversary date) in Boerne, Texas, where my wife grew up and where her parents and many of our extended relatives live. Instead of being put out by having a... Read more
Likely the most convincing signs of the role and divinity of Jesus Christ was his ability to perform miracles. The New Testament describes more than 30 different occasions in which the Savior performed an act that was considered unexplainable through earthly means during his lifetime, but that also cannot be replicated by modern technology and science. I have summarized the miracles of Jesus as recorded in the New Testament below, including listing a commonly understood designation of what the miracle... Read more
God’s power is endless. Satan’s power is limited. Several decades ago when I was a teenager, I attended a church fireside at which we listened to a man from our congregation whose career was in the counseling field. We found out soon after he began his presentation that his clientele included some types of people I hardly even know existed at the time. He shared with us several experiences he had counseling people who had ventured into Satanism. Because of... Read more
A primary motivation for being a faithful Christian is the promise of enduring happiness based upon following the teachings of Jesus Christ. Although it is expected that the greatest of the blessings promised by the Savior will be received after this life is finished, living the gospel carries with it the promise of receiving divine assistance with the temporal needs and wants each person has while on this mortal journey. The scriptures are full of promises from prophets related to... Read more
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