Nauvoo Neighbor

Joseph Smith was neither authoritarian, nor a relativist

In the church, we now have a lot of Joseph-idolatry. People who have lost any convictions about the current prophetic mantle in the church tend to go back to Joseph Smith and cut out the things he taught that don’t fit their paradigm, in an effort to create a Joseph in their own image. And they call this figment of their imagination “Mormonism.” So we have narratives that Joseph was not polygamous, that he had an “expansive” vision that didn’t care what people actually believed, and so forth.

This isn’t new. The ages-old conflict has always been between living prophets and idolaters who say If I had lived in times of old, I would have followed those “true prophets” of the past. After all, prophets of the past can’t explain themselves in the present. So why not make them into idols that do our bidding?

From new age and psychedelics to Christianity

Interesting excerpts from the book The Thing That Would Make Everything Okay Forever, by Ashley Lande. It’s a memoir of her journey from psychedelics and new age to Christianity.

Can a Faithful U.S. Latter-day Saint be a Democrat?

First, listen to this episode of the Standard of Truth podcast, particularly from the 29 minute mark.

Now, let’s do a Q&A.

Do we believe in ghosts?

Why yes, as a matter of fact we do.

But what is a ghost, and what do ghosts do?

This presentation explores Latter-day Saint understanding of mind and spirit, and how spirits influence us.

What it means to restore

What does it mean that I am a member of Christ’s restored church? To answer that question, we need to explore different definitions for the word restore.

On prophet-rejection, archetypes, and video games

There is only one reason that true prophets have ever been rejected throughout history:

“That person does not meet my expectation for prophethood.”

Well, how were those expectations formed?

Below is a gallery of prophet images from movies and games:

Sports and the Great Lessons

Following the BYU victory over Kansas State, the world has been amazed to see BYU fans donating to a fund to help the former high school principal of the quarterback for Kansas State:

Sports rivalries can sometimes be ugly and vicious, but I think BYU is doing a great job of showing that they don’t need to be. Sports can bring out the best in people. What follows are some stories of these kinds of moments, from BYU fans and other people.

The Love of Christ Will Never Fail Us

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This is the 460th week, and we’re covering the General Relief Society session of the October 2006 General Conference.

Whelp, this is definitely a session with a very, very clear theme.

Eternally Encircled in His Love by Sister Bonnie D. Parkin

When I received this call, I pleaded with Heavenly Father to help me know what the sisters in the Church needed. I received a strong witness that we, His daughters, need to know that He loves us. We need to know that He sees the good in us. Feeling His love encourages us to press forward, reassures us that we are His, and confirms to us that He cherishes us even when we stumble and experience temporary setbacks.
Our Heavenly Father loved us before we came to this earth. I know that He loves us, sisters, as does His Son, Jesus Christ. That love will never change—it is constant. You can rely on it. We can trust it.
Do we think we have to be perfect in order to deserve His love? When we allow ourselves to feel “encircled about eternally in the arms of his love,” we feel safe, and we realize that we don’t need to be immediately perfect. We must acknowledge that perfection is a process. This is a gospel of eternal progress, and we must remember to appreciate the journey.
The love of Christ will never fail us.

Remembering the Lord’s Love by Kathleen H. Hughes

the Lord is everywhere when we open our eyes and hearts to His love.
Peace. Strength. It is what we long for and what is possible. We only need to turn toward His reaching arms. In

And then in comes Sister Anne C. Pingree with a little bit of tough love to go with it:

That very will to go forward toward our Savior sometimes requires on-the-spot repentance… We draw closer to the Savior as we encircle others in loving arms. Or we don’t. We balm emotional or physical wounds. Or we don’t. We look at each other with a loving rather than a critical eye. Or we don’t. We ask forgiveness for harm we have caused, even if it was unintended. Or we don’t. We do the hard spiritual work of forgiving those who have given us offense. Or we don’t. We quickly correct our errors or oversights in personal relationships when we become aware of them. Or we don’t.

The love of Christ will indeed never fail us, if only we remember to rely on it.

Receiving is a Principle of Action

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This is the 459th week, and we’re covering the Sunday afternoon session of the October 2006 General Conference.

The talk that stood out the most to me this session was Receiving By the Spirit by Elder A. Roger Merrill. His main point? “Remember, receive is a verb. It is a principle of action. It is a fundamental expression of faith.”

God’s Love is the Antidote to Scrupulosity

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This is the 458th week, and we’re covering the Sunday morning session of the October 2006 General Conference.

This was a strong session with good talks from a number of speakers, but the one that easily stood out to me was “The Great and Wonderful Love” by Elder Anthony D. Perkins.

In this talk, Elder Perkins addresses “three examples of how Lucifer” spreads lies that “plant doubts about the nature of the Godhead and our relationship with Them.” They are (these are direct quotes):