In this time of confusion being sown by many in LDS related discourse, I thought that perhaps I would take a page from Adam S. Miller and give you this “urgent paraphrase” of a classic talk given in the April 1969 General Conference by Ezra Taft Benson, titled “To the Humble Followers of Christ.” I…
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I recently exchanged some correspondence with a good man regarding the law of chastity, and felt like some of what I said may be of interest more generally. The context of the discussion was related to whether or not same gender dating was harmless exploration and discovery or a violation of the law of chastity. …
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Mosiah 9 is the first chapter recounting the story of Zeniff and his people, who went up from the land of Zarahemla to recapture or obtain the land of Nephi from the Lamanites. In it, we read that Zeniff was part of an earlier expedition formed for that same purpose, but whose strategy was more…
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I came across this excerpt today from a talk by Rulon S. Wells in October 1922, a former authority in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which I found profound and I am placing this here without comment: “Education means development and growth. We are the children of God, and have inherited from him…
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Not all homicides are the same, and the laws of our country recognize this simple fact. While different states differ in some particulars, generally murder is the intentional killing of another person, while manslaughter involves the reckless killing of another. Often state codes will include a category of negligent homicide in various situations as well. …
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“Sometimes we hear someone refer to a division in the Church. In reality, the Church is not divided. It simply means that there are some who, for the time being at least, are members of the Church but not in harmony with it. These people have a temporary membership and influence in the Church; but…
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I found myself reading a silly little blog post by a semi-anonymous blogger renting space from two cats, which calls most members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to the carpet for their supposed misunderstanding of the parable of the wheat and the tares. It was full of judgment against such members…
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What does it mean to belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?[1] This may seem, at first blush, to be a relatively simple question. On one hand, the answer is quite simple. One who is a member of the Church, belongs to the Church. Everyone baptized into the faith is a member…
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We are living in the latter days, and while I don’t know when the Second Coming will occur, it is clearly sooner today than it was yesterday. I have been thinking a lot in the last week on the Parable of the Ten Virgins. It is found in the Gospel of St. Matthew, immediately after…
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