Category Archives: LDS Church

“Worthy to Enter” Mormon Temples

April Young Bennett needed to renew her temple recommend. Her brother was soon to be married in a Mormon temple and she wanted to be there. As many of you know, Latter-day Saints who do not hold a current temple … Continue reading

Posted in LDS Church, Mormon Culture, Mormon Temple, Worthiness | Tagged , , , , | 74 Comments

Mormons Study a New Testament in 2015

On Monday (January 12, 2015) I wrote, The Mormon Church’s Sunday School course of study for 2015 is the New Testament. Accordingly, Gig Harbor, WA newspaper columnist Alfred Gunn (LDS) wrote a column for The Peninsula Gateway titled, “The Bible … Continue reading

Posted in Bible, Jesus Christ, LDS Church, Mormon Scripture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 23 Comments

“The sweet dream of a pure minded boy”

In the spring of 1820 Joseph Smith went into the woods to pray. “Humbly kneeling, sweet appealing–‘Twas the boy’s first uttered prayer” says the Mormon hymn (“Joseph Smith’s First Prayer”). Joseph sought to know “Who of all these parties [Presbyterians, … Continue reading

Posted in Joseph Smith, LDS Church, Mormon History, Polygamy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 39 Comments

Is it really a gift?

One of the most remarkable things about the Mormon religion is how its leaders can so badly misinterpret the basic meaning of certain words. Take “gift,” for example. When I think of a “gift,” I think of something given to … Continue reading

Posted in Grace, Jesus Christ, LDS Church, Salvation | Tagged , , , , , , | 72 Comments

Worship of Joseph Smith?

It’s Throwback Thursday! The following blog article originally posted at Mormon Coffee on January 17, 2006. —————— Reading the December 31, 2005 issue of Church News I came across this: “As Latter-day Saints we no more worship Joseph Smith than … Continue reading

Posted in Joseph Smith, LDS Church, Mormon Culture | Tagged , , , , , | 49 Comments

Mormonism’s President and the Role of the Angry Mob

In April 2014, at the Mormon Church’s General Conference, President Thomas S. Monson spoke of love being the essence of the gospel. Explaining that Jesus Christ is our great example of love, President Monson said, “The sick He healed; the … Continue reading

Posted in Joseph Smith, LDS Church | Tagged , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

Music of the Faiths

It’s Throwback Thursday! The following blog article originally posted at Mormon Coffee on January 30, 2006. —————— Today’s Journal and Courier [January 30, 2006] from Lafayette, Indiana reports on that city’s Music of the Faiths hymn sing which took place … Continue reading

Posted in Christianity, God the Father, Great Apostasy, LDS Church | Tagged , , , , , , | 38 Comments

Faithful Mormons Respond to News of Joseph Smith’s Polygamy

Shock waves continue to move across the globe as Mormons discover their Church’s recent admissions regarding Joseph Smith’s polygamy. There is much distress evident among Mormons who have always believed (been told) that the kinds of things now disclosed in … Continue reading

Posted in Early Mormonism, Joseph Smith, LDS Church, Mormon Culture, Mormon History, Polygamy, Truth, Honesty, Prayer, and Inquiry | Tagged , , , , | 51 Comments

Mormon Church Posts Essays on Joseph Smith’s Polygamy

It’s all over the news. The Mormon Church has finally “admitted” long-buried facts about Joseph Smith’s polygamy. The new Church essays were actually posted at lds.org sometime around October 22nd (2014), but for some reason the news only hit the … Continue reading

Posted in Early Mormonism, Family, Joseph Smith, LDS Church, Mormon History, Nauvoo, Polygamy | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 37 Comments

A mediator between God and man

The other day I was invited to attend LDS seminary classes at the public high school my youngest daughter attends. Seminary, for those who don’t know, is a four-year program put together by the LDS Church for their high school … Continue reading

Posted in LDS Church, Mormon Culture | Tagged , , , , | 114 Comments